14 DAY TRIAL // While the world was busy celebrating the new year, astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey, in Tucson, Arizona discovered the first asteroid for 2014. The object was very small, boasting a diameter of just 2 to 3 meters (7 to 10 feet), but it was on a collision course with Earth.
The space rock, dubbed 2014 AA, was discovered early on Wednesday morning, January 1, 2014. According to the astronomy team, the object most likely entered Earth's atmosphere sometime between 2 pm EST (1900 GMT) on Wednesday and 9 am EST (1400 GMT) on Thursday.
The asteroid moved so fast that the telescope could only snap a fleeting glimpse of it. However, it was determined that 2014 AA was very small. Like most objects of its size, it probably burned up entirely high above the surface, leaving behind nothing more than dust.
Possible locations for where the asteroid might have landed if it did not disintegrate in the atmosphere range from Central America to East Africa. Astronomers cannot say for certain where 2014 AA would have landed due to the uncertainty of its orbit. The most likely location would have been somewhere in West Africa, a JPL press release informs.