2024: Best celestial displays visible in PH

Without a doubt, the universe puts on a show as best it can.

From comet to supermoon, here are the top 3 celestial displays visible in the Philippines this 2024:

Small asteroid burned up over Luzon

On September 5, residents in Luzon saw a small asteroid flying across the night sky at 12:39 a.m.

Several individuals captured the asteroid's passage on camera, creating an eerie yet breathtaking sight.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration identified the asteroid as 2024 RW1, which was only the ninth asteroid to have been viewed by humankind before impact.

Approximately one meter in size, the asteroid quickly disintegrated due to air friction.

Due to this, the Department of Science and Technology said that finding surviving fragments of the asteroid are minimal “due to the absence of a meteorite crater, indicating that they may have descended into the ocean following the meteor’s path.”

The DOST said that the asteroid was discovered by NASA's Catalina Sky Survey 11 hours before impact and traveled through the atmosphere at a speed of 20.8 kilometers (12 miles) per second.

“The discovery of the small asteroid is a sign that Earth’s planetary defense programs are working as intended,” the DOST said in its statement.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

The comet was visible in the Philippines in October.

Photos and videos from Filipinos showed a bright yellow comet zipping through the night sky.

Non-profit youth organization Earth Shaker PH said that the comet was visible to the naked human eye for over 30 to 45 minutes during its passage, even in areas with light pollution.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was first discovered in 2023 and made its closest transit past the Sun on September 27.

October Supermoon

The Hunter’s Moon lit up the Philippine skies in October, creating an illuminating and spooky display only days before Halloween.

It was the third of four consecutive supermoons in 2024, the brightest “by a tiny margin,'' according to an article posted on NASA's website.

It was in full view in the Philippines beginning at 7:26 p.m. on October 17.

''The earliest written use of the term 'Hunter's Moon' identified in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710. According to the Farmer's Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields, hunters can easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey upon them),'' the article said.

NASA said this type of full moon occurs when the moon is closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit, appearing slightly larger and brighter. —VBL, GMA Integrated News