Astronomers spot asteroid 2024 BX1 three hours before impact

In a dramatic turn of events, veteran astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky detected an asteroid on an imminent collision course with Earth on 20 January 2024. Within hours of this discovery, the asteroid struck Earth's atmosphere 50 km west of Berlin, Germany, producing a stunning fireball.

Named "2024 BX1," this is the 8th asteroid that has ever been detected spotted before impact with Earth's atmosphere - and the third discovered by astronomer Sárneczky.

After Sárneczky shared his observations, automatic impact monitoring systems around the world, including the European Space Agency's Meerkat responded to the new data and sprang into action, issuing an alert to astronomers and asteroid experts around the world.

Using more than a dozen observatories, scientists were soon able to determine that the tiny asteroid, roughly one metre in size, would impact Earth in less than two hours, approximately 50 km west of Berlin.

On January 21, at 01:32 CET, asteroid 2024 BX1 plunged into the Earth's atmosphere and burned an explosive streak through the night sky, creating a stunning fireball, which was even recorded by a handful of skywatchers and automated camera systems.

Late in the evening of 20 January 2024, astronomer @sarneczky detected a ~1m asteroid on an imminent collision course with Earth.It struck the atmosphere ~50 km west of Berlin, Germany, just three hours later, producing this stunning fireball.Named #2024BX1, this is just the… pic.twitter.com/RvVqSlOlrq

— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) January 25, 2024

"Asteroids of this size strike Earth on average every couple of weeks. They pose no significant danger, and most are never detected. But they can help us understand how many small asteroids are out there and we can study the fireballs they produce to determine what they are made of – if we catch them on camera," ESA wrote in a post on Thursday.