In an international study led by Western University and Lowell Observatory, scientists describe a pioneering, integrative approach for studying near-Earth asteroids based largely on a November 2022 fireball event that dropped meteorites in the Niagara region.
The space scientists determined the composition and size of Asteroid 2022 WJ1 (WJ1) before it fractured upon entering Earth's atmosphere by comparing Arizona-based telescopic observations to video captured by Western's Southern Ontario Meteor Network cameras of the fireball (an unusually bright meteor) on November 19, 2022.
The study, published today (Nov 22) in The Planetary Science Journal, is significant not only because it reveals key details about WJ1, the smallest asteroid in space to be characterized to date, but also for establishing the methodology for studying other space objects that impact Earth. This is the first time telescope observation and camera captures have been used to study the same space object.
