Fragments of an asteroid that hit Earth over Berlin, Germany, on Sunday (Jan. 21) have been recovered by meteorite hunters, and they could be very rare indeed. The 3.3-foot (1-meter) wide asteroid named 2024 BX1 was identified by NASA about 90 minutes before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. It disintegrated upon impact, causing an explosion and a fireball visible to observers across Europe. Following the event, intrepid meteorite hunters began searching for fragments of Asteroid 2024 BX1. One team, led by SETI meteor scientist Peter Jenniskens, discovered the second and third fragments. The meteorites, weighing 5.3 grams and 3.1 grams respectively, were finally found by Freie Universitaet students Dominik Dieter and Cara Weihe.
Related: How NASA predicted the Jan. 21 asteroid crash over GermanyJenniskens is no stranger to meteorite hunts. In previous expeditions, he led searches for meteorites that originated from asteroids detected in space before exploding in Earth’s atmosphere, including endeavors in Sudan in 2008 and Botswana 10 years later. More recently, he conducted a similar pursuit in France. According to Jenniskens, the recent search was particularly challenging because the fragments closely resembled terrestrial rocks, making them difficult to distinguish from ordinary Earth rocks. The official classification of these meteorites has not been made yet, but Jenniskens suggests that these samples might be something very special. “The next big step in the research is to understand what exactly we’re looking at here,” Jenniskens said. “It’s very cool.”
A meteorite fragment from asteroid 2024 BX1 (Image credit: courtesy of Peter Jenniskens)What sets these meteorites apart?Denis Vida, a meteor physics postdoctoral researcher at Western University, told Space.com that the parent body of the fragments found by Jenniskens and his team was part of a group of near-Earth asteroids called the “Apollo asteroids.” He added that, thanks to light reflected off its body, Asteroid 2024 BX 1 exhibited an apparent magnitude of 32.8, making it one of the faintest asteroids ever discovered. If it had a stony composition, Vida says that the asteroid likely weighed around 2 metric tons. Some assumptions, such as the size and mass of the asteroid, might be incorrect, however, as the samples recovered appear to be a rare type of space rock, most likely aubrite, according to Vida. He added that this could mean Asteroid 2024 BX 1 was much smaller than estimated, making it one of the smallest asteroids ever discovered.”Generally speaking, for all types of meteorites, about 10 fireballs drop at least 300 grams of meteorites over an area the size of California, France, or Spain,” Vida continued. “Half of them happen during the daytime and go unobserved. The remaining half happens during overcast skies, leaving about two to three that are observable in theory, out of which only a tiny fraction actually get found. “If meteorites of 2024 BX1 are confirmed to be aubrites, they make up only 1% of all known meteorites, making it very rare indeed.”Vida also explained what else scientists could learn about the now-destroyed Asteroid 2024 BX 1 from these fragments, considering how each meteorite type comes from a specific location in the solar system and has a unique history. “Currently, there isn’t an agreed-upon origin of aubrites, and several candidates have been put forward: The Nysa asteroid family, asteroid 3103 Eger, and even the planet Mercury,” Vida said. “With this being a fresh fall, enabling quick lab analysis and such an accurate orbit, I am confident that this rock will get us one step closer to understanding the origin of aubrites and help piece together the story of the formation of the solar system.”
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