2024 BX1: 8th predicted Earth impact!

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Eight. Eight asteroids have been discovered before they entered the Earth atmosphere. And three out of them all have been discovered by the same person: Krisztián Sárneczky from GINOP KHK observatory (K88, Piszkéstető, Hungary), discovered 2022 EB5, 2023 CX1. On January 20th, 2024, 21h 48min UT, he is again the first who spots a small dot of light where nothing should be present (see X post below).

The fireball associated to asteroid 2024 BX1 captured from Glashütte (Germany). Credit: Tobias Felber
Figure 1- The fireball associated to asteroid 2024 BX1 captured from Glashütte (Germany). Credit: Tobias Felber

An asteroid discovered less than 3 hours before it entered the atmosphere

Provisory named Sar2736, it had 7% probability to impact the Earth a few hours ahead. A few observations and a more accurate orbit determination later (see X post below), and the doubt vanished: the nearly 1-m asteroid (0,8 to 1,4-m, according to photometry) was to impact the Earth less than 3 hours later, on January 21st, 00h 32min UT, above North-Eastern Germany, tens of kilometers West of its capital, Berlin! Immediately, numerous observatories were directed to the small object, trying to follow it during his fast run into the Earth. The fast rotator Apollo-type asteroid was even photographed while entering the Earth shadow (Figure 2), 7 minutes before it became a fireball!

Figure 1- This is the last image of 2024 BX1 as an asteroid. It was pictured during 20 seconds on january 21st, 00h25min UT, while it was entering the Earth shadow. It would appear 7 minutes later above Germany, but as a bright fireball! Credit: Luca Buzzi and Gianni Galli
Figure 2- This is the last image of 2024 BX1 as an asteroid. It was pictured during 20 seconds on january 21st, 00h25min UT, while it was entering the Earth shadow. It would appear 7 minutes later above Germany, but as a bright fireball! Credit: Luca Buzzi and Gianni Galli

A very bright fireball

Thanks to numerous alerts and the populated areas above which the fireball was to occur, many people and webcams were recording the sky activity around the time the fireball was to happen. This exceptional event and all the emotions it brought is very nicely written in an article of the Oldenburg University Tobias Hoffmann. Some also observed it and reported it via the Fireball report form (Event #2024-423). Many captured the bright event, showing a 5 seconds fireballs entering the Earth atmosphere with a steep 75° inclination to the horizontal and a 15 km/s speed. The meteor displayed numerous very bright flares, the brightest of them reaching mag. -22 (Figure 5)! The fireball was widely captured by the AllSky7 network (Figure 3) and a Fripon-Germany camera (Figure 4).

Video credit: ALLSKY7 / Sirko Molau – AMS16 Ketzuer

Figure 2- 2024 BX1 atmospheric entry captured by AllSky7 camra network. Credit: AllSky7

Figure 3- 2024 BX1 atmospheric entry captured by AllSky7 camera network. Credit: AllSky7

Figure 3- Fireball associated to 2024 BX1 entry captured by Fripon-Germany camera in Ketzur. Credit: Fripon-GermanyFigure 4- Fireball associated to 2024 BX1 entry captured by Fripon-Germany camera in Ketzür (DEBB01). Credit: Fripon-Germany
Figure 4- Magnitude curve deduced from Fripon-Germany recording of 2024 BX1 entry (Figure 3). Credit: FriponFigure 5- Magnitude curve calculated from Fripon-Germany recording of 2024 BX1 entry (Figure 3). Credit: Fripon

The asteroid entry was also recorded with infrasonic arrays, which should allow to estimate the total energy of the impactor in the close future.

Surviving meteorites?

Meteorite hunting teams organized very quickly to try to find remains of the original asteroid. Strewn field were calculated (see X post below), and as soon as January 21st, the first team were walking through the crops in the snow and a freezing -12°C to try to find meteorites (see X post below). Researches are always going on, but we will keep you informed as soon as meteorites are discovered! 

Sources

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