Combined effort by amateurs and JPL predicts small asteroid destruction over Germany
After amateur astronomers had identified a small three-foot-diameter asteroid heading for an impact of the Earth only three hours hence, an automatic system developed at JPL took the data and quickly predicted accurately the location and timing of the asteroid’s destruction in the atmosphere over Germany.
The asteroid 2024 BX1 was first observed less than three hours before its impact by Krisztián Sárneczky at Piszkéstető Mountain Station of the Konkoly Observatory near Budapest, Hungary. These early observations were reported to the Minor Planet Center – the internationally recognized clearinghouse for the position measurements of small solar system bodies – and automatically posted on the center’s Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page so that other astronomers could make additional observations.
Scout, which was developed and is operated by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, automatically fetched the new data from that page, deducing the object’s possible trajectory and chances of impacting Earth. …With three observations posted to the confirmation page over 27 minutes, Scout initially identified that an impact was possible and that additional observations were urgently needed. As astronomers across Europe reported new data to the Minor Planet Center, the asteroid’s trajectory became better known and the probability of its impacting Earth significantly increased.
Seventy minutes after 2024 BX1 was first spotted, Scout reported a 100% probability of Earth impact and began to narrow down the location and time. As tracking continued and more data became available over the next hour, Scout improved estimates of the time and location. Since the asteroid disintegrated over a relatively populated part of the world, many photos and videos of the fireball were posted online minutes after the event.
The asteroid burned up over Germany on January 21, 2024, with warning notices sent out by the Scout system ninety minutes beforehand. This is only the eighth time since 2008 that an asteroid has been discovered and tracked precisely to its crash site mere hours before impact. This technology increases the chances not only of immediately recovering larger asteroids after they hit the ground, it reduces the threat of harm to Earth inhabitants. If a larger more dangerous asteroid was discovered in the same manner, there is now some ability to warn people.
After amateur astronomers had identified a small three-foot-diameter asteroid heading for an impact of the Earth only three hours hence, an automatic system developed at JPL took the data and quickly predicted accurately the location and timing of the asteroid’s destruction in the atmosphere over Germany.
The asteroid 2024 BX1 was first observed less than three hours before its impact by Krisztián Sárneczky at Piszkéstető Mountain Station of the Konkoly Observatory near Budapest, Hungary. These early observations were reported to the Minor Planet Center – the internationally recognized clearinghouse for the position measurements of small solar system bodies – and automatically posted on the center’s Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page so that other astronomers could make additional observations.
Scout, which was developed and is operated by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, automatically fetched the new data from that page, deducing the object’s possible trajectory and chances of impacting Earth. …With three observations posted to the confirmation page over 27 minutes, Scout initially identified that an impact was possible and that additional observations were urgently needed. As astronomers across Europe reported new data to the Minor Planet Center, the asteroid’s trajectory became better known and the probability of its impacting Earth significantly increased.
Seventy minutes after 2024 BX1 was first spotted, Scout reported a 100% probability of Earth impact and began to narrow down the location and time. As tracking continued and more data became available over the next hour, Scout improved estimates of the time and location. Since the asteroid disintegrated over a relatively populated part of the world, many photos and videos of the fireball were posted online minutes after the event.
The asteroid burned up over Germany on January 21, 2024, with warning notices sent out by the Scout system ninety minutes beforehand. This is only the eighth time since 2008 that an asteroid has been discovered and tracked precisely to its crash site mere hours before impact. This technology increases the chances not only of immediately recovering larger asteroids after they hit the ground, it reduces the threat of harm to Earth inhabitants. If a larger more dangerous asteroid was discovered in the same manner, there is now some ability to warn people.
