For the seventh time, a small asteroid (a meteoroid as astronomers call it) has been detected in space as it sped towards Earth for a collision. The estimated time and location of the collision (02:50 – 03:03 UTC over northern France) was made possible by observations made by European astronomer Christian Sarnecki using the 60-centimeter Schmidt Telescope at the Piskešteto Observatory in Hungary. The 2023 CX1 is the second multiplier discovered by Christian after the 2022 EB5 crashed less than a year ago. The last three predicted collisions have occurred in the past 12 months, and this is an encouraging example of how quickly asteroid detection capabilities are advancing.

After the collision, a beautiful fireball lit up the sky in the expected time slot (at 02:59 UTC) and location. The sightings came mainly from the southern parts of Great Britain and France, but also from Belgium, the Netherlands and even Germany. It is possible that some fragments of the meteorite survived its atmospheric journey and landed somewhere on land, near the coast north of Rouen in the Normandy region of France. Author: Muhammed Uzzal

What happened?

At 20:18:07 UTC on February 12, 2023, a new asteroid (now officially designated 2023 CX1, but originally designated Sar2667 by the discoverer) was captured by the Piscesteto Observatory. It was reported to the Minor Planet Center at 20:49 UTC after the second observation was made. About 40 minutes later, follow-up observations reported by the Vishnjan Observatory in Croatia confirmed the object’s existence. Currently, various impact assessment systems around the world have calculated a 100% probability of impact on the English Channel between 02:00 and 04:00 UTC. The asteroid was estimated to be about one meter in diameter and did not pose a threat to people or property.

Over the next seven hours, astronomers around the world observed the Earth-bound object and determined a west-to-east trajectory and a “collision corridor” over the English Channel. The object remained in sight until ten minutes before the collision, just five minutes before it fell into Earth’s shadow and became “invisible.”

After the collision, a beautiful fireball lit up the sky in the expected time slot (at 02:59 UTC) and location. The sightings came mainly from the southern parts of Great Britain and France, but also from Belgium, the Netherlands and even Germany. It is possible that some fragments of the meteorite survived its atmospheric journey and landed somewhere on land near the coast north of Rouen in the Normandy region of France.

The team at ESA’s Office of Planetary Protection contributed to this historic event both by providing timely alerts from the Meerkat warning system and by using a network of optical telescopes built specifically for these situations.

As we can predict that these small, striking shooting stars in our sky will become more common, more people may be in the right place at the right time and witness a phenomenon few have been lucky enough to see before.