In a rare occurrence, scientists have managed to detect an asteroid approaching Earth just hours before it erupted into a blazing spectacle above Berlin.
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| NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona |
This remarkable event marks the eighth time in recorded history that such a discovery has been made. The small celestial body burst into a fiery display in the early hours of January 21st.
In the early hours of Sunday (Jan. 21), a small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere near Berlin, creating a luminous fireball that could be seen for miles. These occurrences typically happen a few times per year, but this particular event was exceptional because scientists detected it approximately three hours before impact. This marks only the eighth time that researchers have observed such a space rock before it collided with our planet.
The asteroid, named 2024 BXI, was initially spotted by Krisztián Sárneczky, a self-proclaimed asteroid hunter and astronomer at the Piszkéstető Mountain Station, which is part of the Konkoly Observatory in Hungary. Sárneczky utilized the 60-cm Schmidt telescope at the observatory to identify this celestial object. Shortly after its discovery, NASA provided a detailed prediction of the meteor's trajectory and the exact time it would strike.
On the night of January 20, NASA tweeted a notification stating that a small asteroid will break apart into a harmless fireball to the west of Berlin, near Nennhausen, at 1:32am CET. If the sky is clear, observers will have the opportunity to witness this event.
#BREAKING: Moments ago, a small asteroid impacted Earth over Germany. Video from live cam in Leipzig.
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) January 21, 2024
H/t @meteordoc pic.twitter.com/F1TLijsv9P
The city of Leipzig in northern Germany was fortunate enough to have a live camera capture the remarkable sight of an incredibly luminous meteor. The footage revealed the meteor's swift appearance and disappearance within a matter of seconds. Prior to its impact, this asteroid, measuring approximately 3.3 feet (1 meter) in width, began to disintegrate roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Berlin. As it journeyed, it is highly likely that it shed some meteorites onto the ground. Denis Vida, a postdoctoral associate specializing in meteor physics at Western University in Canada, shared this insight with CBS News.
Another *incredible* shot of the small asteroid burning up above Germany just moments ago—wow. pic.twitter.com/OGl0GuWGe6
— Dr Robin George Andrews 🌋☄️ (@SquigglyVolcano) January 21, 2024
Sárneczky, in recent years, has made the remarkable discovery of numerous asteroids. Additionally, he holds the distinction of being the first to identify asteroid 2022 EB5, a mere two hours prior to its collision with Earth's atmosphere. Utilizing data from the Konkoly Observatory, he successfully detected this approaching celestial body.
It is extremely rare to witness such an event. The European Space Agency has reported that a staggering 99% of near-Earth asteroids smaller than 98 feet (30 meters) in diameter remain undiscovered. Detecting smaller asteroids becomes increasingly challenging as they need to be closer to Earth for scientists to identify them, making it difficult to predict potential impacts in advance.
Occasionally, these near-Earth asteroids can go unnoticed due to the sun's glare, as was the case with the meteor that emerged from the direction of the rising sun in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. This unexpected celestial object caused widespread damage, shattering windows, temporarily blinding pedestrians, causing instantaneous ultraviolet burns, and injuring over 1,600 individuals.
Government space agencies are currently working on innovative technologies to scan the celestial skies for asteroids before they pose a threat to Earth. Notably, NASA's NEO Surveyor satellite is scheduled for launch in 2027, while ESA's NEOMIR is expected to be launched after 2030. Additionally, commencing in 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, funded by the National Science Foundation, will play a crucial role in cataloging the solar system from the ground. This observatory is anticipated to significantly enhance asteroid detection endeavors.
According to Mario Jurić, the lead of the solar system discovery team at the Rubin Observatory and the director of the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, it took humanity 200 years to identify the current known asteroids, which amount to approximately 1.2 million. However, he confidently states that within the initial three to six months of the Rubin Observatory's operation, this number will be doubled.
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