Early Sunday morning (Jan. 21), a small asteroid streaked across the sky and crashed into Earth's atmosphere near Berlin, leaving a bright but harmless fireball visible for miles. Such sightings usually happen a few times a year — but this one was unique because it was first spotted by scientists about three hours before impact — the eighth time researchers have spotted one of these space rocks before it hit.
Asteroid, dub 2024 BXIFirst discovered by a self-proclaimed asteroid hunter Krisztian Sárneczky, an astronomer at the Piszkéstető Mountain Station, part of the Konkoli Observatory in Hungary. He used to identify the cosmic rock 60-cm Schmidt telescope in the lab. Shortly after the discovery of the space rock, NASA made detailed predictions of where and when the meteorite would hit.
„Heads up: A small asteroid will disintegrate into a harmless fireball shortly CET near Nennhausen west of Berlin. If it's clear, watchers will see it!” NASA tweeted Jan. 20 night.
A Live camera In the northern German city of Leipzig, footage was captured of an exceptionally bright meteor appearing and disappearing in seconds. The asteroid, which measured 3.3 feet (1 meter) wide before impact, began disintegrating about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Berlin and „probably dropped some meteorites to the ground” along the way. Denis VidaPostdoctoral Assistant in Meteor Physics at Western University in Canada, told CBS News.
Sárneczky discovered hundreds of asteroids in recent years Asteroid 2022 EB5 was first discovered Two hours before it fell into Earth's atmosphere. He used the Konkoli Observatory data to find that incoming rock.
His vision is incredibly unusual. According to the European Space Agency, 99% of near-Earth asteroids are less than 98 feet (30 meters) across. Not found yet. The smaller an asteroid is, the closer it must be to Earth before scientists can detect it, making it difficult to predict impacts in advance. Experts say.
In some cases, near-Earth asteroids can Hide in the sunlightLike this A meteor that exits from the direction of the rising sun 2013 over Chelyabinsk, Russia. That surprise space rock shattered windows, temporarily blinded pedestrians, caused instant ultraviolet burns and injured more than 1,600 people.
Government space agencies, including NASA, are currently developing new technologies to scan asteroids before they interact with Earth. NEO surveyor satelliteCurrently scheduled to launch in 2027, and ESA NeomirIt is not expected to start until after 2030. Starting in 2025, Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile — funded by the National Science Foundation — is cataloging the Solar System from Earth, and is expected to greatly aid asteroid-hunting efforts.
„It took 200 years to discover all the asteroids we know today, about 1.2 million.” Mario JuricRubin Lab's Solar System Discovery Group Leader and Director of the TRAC Institute at the University of Washington, Astronomy said. „In the first three to six months of Rubin, we'll double that.”
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