Astronomers confirmed this week that an 10-foot-long asteroid struck Earth and landed just south of Puerto Rico on June 22, producing energy equivalent to roughly 3 to 5 kilotons of TNT.
According to EarthSky, the big impact unfolded at roughly 5:25 p.m. EDT some 170 miles south of the hurricane-battered Island of Enchantment. Despite the high amount of energy emitted by the space rock’s strike, no injuries or fatalities are thought to have resulted from the incident.
Aside from the fireworks-like display put on by the space rock, which was recently named Asteroid 2019 MO, the most striking fact about its descent on Earth was that it was detected prior to its impact.
Astronomer Peter Brown noted in a recent tweet that an infrasound station located in Bermuda managed to pick up airwaves that the flying rock produced upon its entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
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