An asteroid lights up the sky over Russia’s far east

A small asteroid crashed into Earth’s atmosphere and created a spectacular fireball in the sky over far eastern Russia early Wednesday morning.

People from Russia’s remote Sakha Republic, in northeastern Siberia, braved the snow to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon, which astronomers spotted about 12 hours before it arrived, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

According to ESA, the asteroid was about 70 cm long and entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 01:15 local time (16:15 GMT).

Saha’s Emergencies Ministry said officials had been alerted, but no damage was reported after the asteroid landed.