A small asteroid sped toward Earth before burning out above far northeastern Russia on Tuesday night, sparking a natural light show for residents in that remote corner of the planet, officials said.

A small asteroid will impact Earth's atmosphere this morning. Currently dubbed COWEPC5, the 1.6 to 4-feet asteroid was discovered earlier this morning, hours before its expected crash over Eastern Russia's Olykminsky District at 10:14 a.

Astronomers have spotted a 70-centimetre asteroid that is set to hit the atmosphere above northern Siberia at 4.15 pm GMT, making a fireball in the sky

The unnamed asteroid is part of a growing list of near-Earth objects being monitored by space agencies around the globe