March 13 Asteroid Discovered Hours Before Earth Impact

 

March 13 Asteroid Discovered Hours Before Earth Impact

The fireball in this image is from January 21, 1999. It's an example of how the March 11 meteor might have looked to witnesses. Did you see it? Report your sighting to the International Meteor Organization. Image via P. Spurnyis/ AMS. Read more.

EarthSky News is taking a "spring break" early this week. See you in a few days! Asteroid discovered hours before Earth impact Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky at the Piszkésteto Mountain Station near Budapest - part of Konkoly Observatory - discovered a small asteroid on March 11, just 2 hours before it struck Earth's atmosphere. The asteroid is believed to have started out about 10 feet (3 meters) wide. Now labeled 2022 EB5, this object entered Earth's atmosphere north of Iceland at 21:22 UTC on March 11. It is the 5th asteroid to be discovered prior to impacting Earth. Read about the asteroid. WATCH: Asteroid to sweep within moon's distance today The near-Earth asteroid 2022 ES3 will have a very close, but safe, encounter with Earth today. It'll come within about 208,000 miles (334,000 km) from the Earth, or 87% of the average distance between the Earth and moon. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live, online, just at the fly-by time. The live feed will begin at 18:30 UTC on March 13, 2022. Click in to learn how to watch. Coming up Tomorrow is Einstein's birthday Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany. He became a junior patent examiner in the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland in 1902. But then came the year 1905, which came to be known as Einstein's annus mirabilis, or miracle year. In that single year, he published 4 papers that reshaped physics and changed the way we think about matter, space and time. Read about Albert Einstein. Ides of March: Why should you beware? Many came to EarthSky last week in search of this definition. Beware the Ides of March. But why? The Ides of March is March 15. Here's why it's famous. All you need to know: March equinox 2022 The March equinox - aka the vernal equinox - marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. It'll arrive at 15:33 UTC on March 20. Read about the March equinox.

Moon beanies are back in stock at the EarthSky Store! Defy the cold and go outdoors to stargaze during spring with an EarthSky moon beanie. They sell out quickly, so order yours before it's too late!

By mid-March, 3 morning planets By mid-March, both Southern and Northern Hemisphere observers can spot 3 planets - Venus, Mars and Saturn - in the eastern predawn sky. Venus will reach its greatest elongation on March 20. Where is Mercury? From mid-March onward, it's in the sunrise glare. Mercury will reach superior conjunction (when it'll be behind the sun from Earth) on April 2. Shortly afterwards, it'll return for a fabulous apparition in the Northern Hemisphere's evening sky. Chart by John Jardine Goss. Visit EarthSky's March-April night sky guide.

Happy birthday, Albert Einstein Einstein in 1947. He changed the way we think about matter, space and time. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Read about Albert Einstein. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!