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An international team of researchers in Botswana discovered meteorites known as 2018 LA asteroid fragments, which astronomers detected eight hours before striking The Earth's atmosphere on June 2, 2018. The space rock was captured in videos (like the one below) that disintegrated at an altitude of 50 km into the atmosphere.
After searching for five days, the team found the first meteorite in the Central Kalahari Reserve of Botswana.
This is only the third time that an asteroid has been detected before hitting the Earth's atmosphere, and that's the second time that fragments of the incoming rock have been recovered. The first time, it was October 7, 2008, when a 13-foot asteroid, designated TC3 2008, exploded over Sudan.
This time, astronomers discovered the small asteroid on a Saturday morning, June 2, and were surprised when its trajectory suggested that it would pass very, very close to Earth a few hours later. They detected the asteroid with the 60-inch (1.5-meter) telescope at Mount. Lemmon, part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.
It seems that there is a good probability that ZLAF9B2 will have an impact on the Earth in the next few hours. (Abstract of MPML and Peter Birtwhistle) https://t.co/As7RgDseLA pic.twitter.com/XKktXbLNFn
– Asteroid Initiatives (@AsteroidEnergy) June 2, 2018
When it struck the Earth's atmosphere, the 2018 LA asteroid produced an explosion of an intensity of about 1 kilotonne, suggesting an estimated size for space rock from 10 to 16 feet
Peter Jenniskens, expert in meteorites from NASA Ames and the SETI Institute, as well as Jarmo Moilanen and Esko Lyytinen of the Finnish Fireball Network, have makes calculations to determine the meteor search area.
further investigated by a research consortium of scientists.
Conclusion: Researchers have found meteorite fragments of the 2018 LA asteroid in Botswana. The asteroid exploded in the atmosphere over southern Africa on June 2, 2018.
Via the University of Helsinki
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