Small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere Sunday near Australia

Published: 08-09-2026, 2:21 AM

Earth as seen from space on the right with a small rocky body on the left. — Artist’s concept of an asteroid near Earth. Experts found a small asteroid hour before it impacted Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean near Australia on Sunday, September 6, 2026. The object harmlessly burned up thanks to its small size. Estimates put the asteroid at just 80 centimeters! That’s about 2.6 feet. Image via Batman111/ Pixabay.

Small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere on Sunday

For only the 13th time, scientists discovered an asteroid before impact. About 6 hours before the space rock hit Earth’s atmosphere on Sunday, the Mount Lemmon Observatory – as part of the Catalina Sky Survey – spotted it for the first time. The asteroid turned out to be about 80 centimeters or 2.6 feet across. Its small size is a testament to how well the space surveys are able to find asteroids in the near-Earth environment.

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The impact happened over the Indian Ocean off northwestern Australia. While there were no confirmed sightings of the asteroid as it burned up in our atmosphere, the space rock should have hit around 16:07 UTC (11:07 a.m. CDT).

At first the asteroid had the name CERNQ52. Now it has an official name: 2026 RW1.

Asteroid CERNQ52 entered Earth’s atmosphere today over the ocean south of Indonesia. It was discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona only hours before its demise. At 80 cm wide, it would have caused no damage. I had to exaggerate the size here, so you could see it. ? #astro

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004.bsky.social) 2026-09-06T21:58:15.158Z

More about the asteroid 2026 RW1

Adrien Coffinet, a member of the Minor Planet Mailing List, wrote:

If I’m not wrong, this will be the first Aten asteroid (a < 1 AU) detected in space before impact. All the previous impactors detected in space before impact were Apollo asteroids (a > 1 AU).

Aten asteroids are those that have an orbit inside Earth’s, so under 1 astronomical unit (AU). Apollo asteroids are those that are farther from the sun than Earth on average.

Map of world with red triangle where it was discovered and blue streak near Australia for impact. — This map shows where the small meteor will impact near northwest Australia. Image via Richard Moissl/ NEO ESA.

Bottom line: A small asteroid impacted Earth’s atmosphere harmlessly on Sunday. Scientists spotted it just 6 hours before impact. It was the 13th asteroid spotted before impact.

Kelly Kizer Whitt

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About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.

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