NASA confirms asteroid set to hit Earth’s atmosphere in matter of hours

Hold onto your hats!

The space rock was spotted by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, which gives scientists up to a week's notice on earth-bound projectiles.

The asteroid was detected several hours before it is due to hit earth and marks only the 12th time scientists have managed to accurately report an asteroid before it entered the atmoshpere.

Furthermore, it will be the fourth asteroid to cross direct paths with Earth this year.

Experts had been given a second indication by the Kitt Peak National Observatory on Tuesday which is funded by NASA.

Head of planetary defence office with the ESA, Richard Moissl, said the asteroid's 'impact corridor' had already been calculated by Kitt Peak's Aegis system.

The Agis system is primarily a military system that can identify air and surface threats through radar technology and computer programs.

In a post on X, Moissl said that the system predicts the asteroid will enter the atmosphere about 124 miles east of Lensk in Russua, although this could still change.

Despite the dramatic nature of the approaching ball of metal, rock and dust, it is nothing to be concerned about with Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen's University Belfast in Ireland telling New Scientist that it poses no risk to people on the ground.

He said: "It's a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular. 

"It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundreds of kilometers around there'll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky."

Scientists have assured people not to panic as, due to the asteroids small size, it will merely burn up the atmosphere, leaving a beautiful fireball trace in the sky.

According to a 2017 study, an asteroid must measuere at least nearly 60 feet in diameter to pose any threat to people on Earth.