Viral video: Asteroid Sar2667 spotted just before hitting Earth's atmosphere

On February 13, at 2.30am in England, UK, while most people were probably fast asleep, a photographer waited patiently with his cameras to capture a rare celestial spectacle that would last only a few seconds – an asteroid hitting Earth’s atmosphere.

Portsmouth resident Muhammed Uzzal’s social media video showing the asteroid, dubbed Sar2667, went viral over the past week after the European Space Agency (ESA) featured it on their Instagram page.

Earlier that night, the ESA had tweeted that the object had been detected and was expected to safely enter Earth’s atmosphere over northern France.

“I heard about this 1-meter size asteroid approaching the Earth at 2.59am UTC (Universal Time Coordinated), a few hours before this event. So, I took the opportunity and got myself out there at 2.30am UTC, and setup my DJI Mini 2 drone to get up 100m high, and set it on record with a wide field of view to capture the horizon and the moon at the same time. Knowing roughly where it will come into Earth’s atmosphere helped to capture this magnificent entry over the English Channel between Portsmouth and France,” explained Muhammed in the caption of the video post.

He added that the video was slowed down by 0.3x speed to show the various stages of the asteroid as it burned out.

“Look at that burn as it enters the atmosphere at 14.2km/s! Seeing this with the naked eye was unforgettable. To think that this was floating around in space for millions, if not billions, of years and ended up on Earth is incredible. There is so much mystery and order up there, it makes you feel insignificant and amazed at the same time,” wrote Muhammed.

According to the International Meteor Organization (IMO), the asteroid, first known as Sar2667 and now as 2023 CX1, mostly broke up in Earth’s atmosphere. The small space rock, which was just one meter wide (about 3 feet wide) created a light show over France and left meteorites, or rocks from outer space, on the ground.

According to space.com, a space exploration and astronomy news website, an astronomer named Krisztián Sárneczky first found the asteroid, just half a day before it came through Earth's atmosphere.

Space enthusiasts and stargazers who saw Muhammed’s video were wowed. Many took to the comments section to admire the video.

Instagram user @jon_jon.jon.jon wrote: “Incredible footage. And the ability to predict well enough to actually line up the shot ahead of time? Wow…”

And, @menageriephotography commented: “How incredible to capture this and also to know what it was! Congratulations!”

In the video caption, Muhammed also mentioned his excitement to share the video with the European Space Agency.

“I’m so happy, actually, I’m over the moon (no pun intended) to be able to collaborate with the European Space Agency and share this reel after capturing it the other night…. I have always been fascinated by the night sky and the universe since my childhood. Wanted to be a pilot and was engrossed with science but failed at math. This never stopped me from learning and following scientific space projects.

“I scan through all sorts of photographs every day, especially long exposure pictures and videos and one day hope to do this myself and learn how to capture the stars with astrophotography. This is one of the reasons I took on photography, as it allows you to capture what the naked eye cannot see straight away,” he added.

Here are two other videos of the same event retweeted and shared by the ESA on Twitter.