An asteroid discovered on the first day of 2014 as it entered Earth's atmosphere burned up between South America and Africa, right over the Atlantic Ocean, according to Wired.com.

The asteroid, which has been called 2014 AA, was first seen a few hours before hit Earth's atmosphere by astronomers in Arizona.

The experts were able to see the asteroid by using the Mt. Lemmon Survey Telescope, according to Slate.com.

"I'm kicking myself for not having spotted this," said astronomer Bill Gray, according to Sky and Telescope. "On New Year's Day, I'd made arrangements to go with my family to visit my sister, go for a walk, stop off for a doughnut, shovel snow, etc., etc."

The asteroid was around 6 to 10 feet long, or around the same size of an average car, according to Wired.com.

Astronomers said the asteroid was going too fast to make landfall, and disintegrated midair.

"According to Chesley, the impact locations are widely distributed, most likely falling on an arc extending from Central America to East Africa, with a best-fit location just off the coast of West Africa on Jan. 2.10," said the Minor Planet Electronic Circular in a statement.

Seeing an asteroid before it hits Earth is a rare event, according to Slate.com. The last asteroid to be seen before entering Earth's atmosphere was back when TC3 did so in Oct. 2008.

TC3 was seen 19 hours before it burned to pieces, though remnants have been recovered in the desert, according to Sky and Telescope. 

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