2018 LA

<p>2018 LA, also known as ZLAF9B2, was a small <a href="/facts/Apollo_asteroid/Qe6sLlBd">Apollo</a> <a href="/facts/Near-Earth_asteroid/UwnPRnSN">near-Earth asteroid</a> 2.6–3.8 m (9–12 ft) in <a href="/facts/Mean_diameter/JIYXJcU3">mean diameter</a> that impacted the atmosphere with small fragments reaching the Earth at roughly 16:44 UTC (18:44 local time) on 2 June 2018 near the border of <a href="/facts/Botswana/dGw6g94p">Botswana</a> and <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>. It had been discovered only 8 hours earlier by the <a href="/facts/Mount_Lemmon_Survey/WfrtsbyN">Mount Lemmon Survey</a>, <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a> and based on 1+1⁄2 hours of observations, was calculated to have a roughly 85% chance of impact likely somewhere between Australia and Madagascar.
</p><p>Hours later, a report arrived to the <a href="/facts/American_Meteor_Society/G7g5BbuF">American Meteor Society</a> that an observer from Botswana had seen a bright <a href="/facts/Fireball_(meteor)/5PexF2mR">fireball</a>. Shortly after the impact, the <a href="/facts/Asteroid_Terrestrial-impact_Last_Alert_System/Q72tHLVc">Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System</a> (ATLAS) released observations obtained from Hawaii roughly 2 hours after the Mount Lemmon observations which confirmed that the asteroid had indeed impacted Earth on a grazing path as per the observed fireball. A preliminary analysis of the pre-impact evolution of this meteoroid suggests that it may be part of a <a href="/facts/List_of_minor-planet_groups/TnVYFxdB">dynamical grouping</a>.
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2018 LA open-in-new

2018 LA