

A meteoroid around the size of a Smart Car is predicted to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over Sudan tonight, marking the first time scientists have made such a forecast. There's no danger from an object this size, but the burn-up could be spectacular for those who witness it.

"A typical meteor comes from an object the size of a grain of sand," Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, which made the prediction, said in a statement Monday. Objects this size are what cause the nighttime streaks that many people think of as shooting stars. "This meteor will be a real humdinger in comparison!"

For perspective, the meteoroid that created Meteor Crater in Arizona was probably 150 feet across.

Astronomers at the Minor Planet Center are among the scientists working to keep track of any potentially dangerous asteroids, known as Near-Earth Objects. The Center is tasked with collecting all the observations from around the world, checking them, calculating orbits and then disseminating the information.

The small meteoroid was discovered earlier today by the Mt. Lemmon Observatory in Arizona, and quick calculations showed it was headed for Earth.

"We estimate objects this size enter Earth's atmosphere once every few months," Don Yeomans of the Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement Monday. "The unique aspect of this event is that it is the first time we have observed an impacting object during its final approach."

This will give professional and amateur astronomers alike the chance to catch a close-up view of the event with their telescopes. The burn, a very bright fireball streaking across the sky, should be visible at 10:46 p.m. EDT from northern Africa, the Middle East and potentially southern Europe.

"We're eager for observations from astronomers near the asteroid's approach path," Williams said. "We really hope that someone will manage to photograph it."

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Image: Kappa Cygnid meteor; NASA/Koen Miskotte, Dutch Meteor Society*