Asteroid crashes off French coast – NASA

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A small asteroid collided with Earth in the early hours of Monday, February 13, exploding over the English Channel near France due to Earth's atmosphere. Designated 2023 CX1 by NASA, the asteroid in question was discovered seven hours before impact by Hungarian astronomer Kristian Sarnecki.

This makes it the seventh asteroid ever discovered prior to impact with Earth.

Asteroid 2023 CX1 is small, about a meter in diameter. To put this into perspective, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded annually by the NFL to an American football team that wins the Super Bowl, measures about half a meter, twice the size of this asteroid.

, was probably slightly heavier than the 3.2 kg trophy.

Although the asteroid exploded near Normandy in France, the resulting fireball was visible from the ground to people in southern England, the United Kingdom and even Paris , and social media was filled with photos of the asteroid impact and the resulting fireball.

However, there was no damage from the asteroid impact. It was so small that it just exploded harmlessly in the atmosphere.
For the asteroid to really caused harm, it must be much more.

In fact, as NASA notes, such asteroids simply turn into meteor showers — what many consider to be a beautiful sight in the night sky.

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