A newly discovered asteroid has blown up in an "airburst" over the English Channel in the early hours of this morning.
In a historic first, the celestial explosion took place at about 3am on Monday, February 13 after the small one-metre asteroid, known as Sar2667, entered the Earth's atmosphere.
The fireball could be seen from most of England and Wales, with reports of it also being spotted as far south as Paris, France. Stargazers captured the beautiful moment, with videos of the rare occurrence now circulating on social media.
What makes the event even more special is that scientists were able to predict when and were the airburst would take place - making this the seventh time such a forecast has ever been made.
Speaking to Wales Online, American Physicist and airburst specialist Mark Boslough of the Los Alamos National Laboratory said that "airbursts of this size happen somewhere several times per year" but are "rarely discovered in advance."
In fact, he said this was only the seventh time in history one had been discovered in advance. He also said it was the first time in history this had happened "over a populated area with enough warning to get data".
Mark Boslough is a research professor at University of New Mexico, fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and chair of the Asteroid Day Expert Panel. He is an expert in the study of planetary impacts and global catastrophes.
The video below by @CParkMD on Twitter shows Asteroid Sar2667, as it exploded over the English Channel at around 3am this morning.
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