A team of researchers at the German Natural History Museum found fragments of the asteroid that exploded over Germany on January 21.
A fragment of asteroid 2024 BX1. Photo: Cevin Dettlaff
On January 21, an asteroid exploded over Germany 95 minutes after the warning was issued. Researchers began hunting for any fragments that might belong to the meteorite that burned up in the atmosphere and fell to Earth. They have now found some fragments, IFL Science reported on January 26.
Walnut-sized fragments of asteroid 2024 BX1 were collected by researchers from the Berlin Museum of Natural History and colleagues. They tested them to confirm that they came from an extraterrestrial object. 2024 BX1 is the eighth object predicted to have a 100% chance of colliding with Earth.
The asteroid was first spotted about three hours before impact. Krisztián Sárneczky at the Piszkéstető Mountain Station at the Konkoly Observatory near Budapest, Hungary, spotted the object in the sky and reported the discovery to the Minor Planet Center, an international network that maintains a database of all small objects passing through the solar system. The data is then automatically shared with astronomers.
Thanks to Scout, an automated impact assessment system that tracks the trajectory of newly discovered objects, researchers were able to determine with certainty that asteroid 2024 BX1 would hit Earth. The bright fireball from the object was visible from the Czech Republic. Debris was expected to fall west of Berlin. In fact, scientists found several small fragments in the Havelland district.
2024 BX1 is estimated to be about a meter in size, so it’s not a threat. It will surely break apart as it passes through the atmosphere. But collecting the remaining fragments is important. If found early enough, they’ll have less exposure to Earth’s contaminants and will provide a nearly pristine sample of the asteroid.
Studying meteorites and rocks from sample-return missions is essential to answering many fundamental questions about the formation of the solar system. Asteroid prediction systems are also essential to keeping Earth safe by detecting hazardous objects early enough to alert or evacuate affected communities.
An Khang (According to IFL Science )
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