Six-hour alert: 80-centimeter asteroid detected before atmospheric entry
A tiny 80 cm asteroid, initially CERNQ52 and later named 2026 RW1, was detected by Mount Lemmon Observatory just six hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean off NW Australia; there was no damage. This marks only the 13th time an asteroid has been spotted before atmospheric entry, highlighting advances in automated sky surveys (like the Catalina Sky Survey) and warning systems (ESA Meerkat) in planetary defense, and suggesting Aten-type asteroids crossing Earth’s orbit can be monitored before impact.