French meteorite challenges asteroid hazard fashions

Asteroid 2023 CX1 turned the seventh asteroid ever noticed previous to hitting Earth when it was detected on 12 February 2023, seven hours earlier than affect.

It entered the ambiance over Normandy, France, at 02:59 UTC on 13 February, inside only a few tens of metres of the placement predicted by ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC).

Roughly 72 cm broad and 650 kg in mass, it exploded at 28 km altitude, releasing practically all of its power instantly.

Thanks to data on the asteroid’s trajectory shared by the NEOCC and others previous to affect, scientists and members of the general public had been capable of witness and report the fireball.

A couple of days later, members of the Vigie-Ciel challenge, a part of the Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON), recovered a fraction of the article close to town of Rouen and named the meteorite Saint-Pierre-Le-Viger.

☄️@esaoperations reported a 1 m meteoroid earlier than it entered Earth’s ambiance over northern France early this morning: solely the seventh time an #asteroidimpact has been predicted – however an indication of the fast advances in international detection capabilities! #Fireball #Sar2667 https://t.co/MzYoIkRaF2

— European Space Agency (@esa) February 13, 2023

Now, a global staff of researchers has published an analysis of the object in Nature Astronomy, making it the primary meteorite of its sort (L-type chondrite) to be studied from discovery in house to the laboratory on Earth. Led by Auriane Egal (Montreal Planetarium, FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel), the examine highlights the significance of understanding how asteroids behave in Earth’s ambiance.

Unlike most small asteroids, which break up greater within the ambiance, 2023 CX1 fragmented decrease, extra all of the sudden, and generated a spherical shock wave that delivered extra power to the bottom than is typical for an object of its measurement. The examine means that sure kinds of asteroid, even when small, can survive deep into the ambiance and show doubtlessly hazardous in the event that they break up over city areas.

Astronomers at ESA’s NEOCC are co-authors on the examine: “We coordinated observations of asteroid 2023 CX1 during the seven hours between discovery and impact and used them to accurately predict its impact location, which enabled people to witness the fireball and recover the meteorite,” says ESA astronomer Marco Micheli.

“Later, we used these and other observations to precisely calculate the object’s pre-impact trajectory and help researchers trace it back to a likely parent body in the main asteroid belt.”

“We have confirmed the existence of a new population of asteroids linked to L-type chondrites, capable of fragmenting abruptly in the atmosphere and releasing almost all their energy at once. Such asteroids must be accounted for in planetary defence strategies,” explains Auriane Egal.

ESA’s upcoming Flyeye asteroid survey telescopes will scan the sky each evening in an effort to identify incoming house rocks like 2023 CX1 earlier and extra typically. The first Flyeye is predicted to enter operation subsequent yr.