Thanks to the contribution of amateur astronomers, a group of scientists managed to reconstruct the path of an asteroid that has disintegrated in France.
With the fundamental contribution of amateur astronomers, a group of scientists managed to reconstruct the path of an asteroid that entered the terrestrial atmosphere, has disintegrated and dropped fragments to the ground, identifying its position, thus allowing to collect new data on how these celestial bodies are destroyed.
The event. The asteroid 2023 CX1 He crossed the skies of the north-west of France, disintegrating shortly after 16:00 rooms on February 13, 2023. About seven hours earlier, a Hungarian astronomer had sighted him at an approximate distance of 200,000 kilometers from the earth, when he had a diameter less than the meter and an estimated mass of about 650 kilograms.
Monitoring. After the initial sighting, organisms such as NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have calculated the point and time of the descent into the atmosphere with great precision. At this point, the French Frion/Vigie-Ciel network has entered into activity, activated for about ten years with a mission of detection and collection of meteorites, which has played a key role.
He involved professional astronomers and enthusiasts, in addition to the public, also through images and videos shared on social media. In particular, a video was very useful that shows the asteroid fragmenting during the entry into the atmosphere: this allowed to understand how many pieces they produced and how fragmentation took place.
Fragmentation and recovery. The asteroid broke “in a very violent way”, in two stadiums, at a height of about 28 kilometers above the earth’s surface. During the descent he lost about 98% of his initial mass and released a considerable amount of energy.
The first fragment found weighed 93 grams and was discovered two days after the impact in the Saint-Pierre-Le-Viger community in the north-west of France. In total, then, about a dozen meteorites were collected and cataloged that have been added to the collection of the National Museum of French Natural History.
Scientific meaning. The entire set of observations was made public through a study published on Nature Astronomy. So far there are few asteroids detected Before of the impact: only 11, and in just four cases they were recovered meteorites. This case adds to these rare examples.
The 2023 CX1 asteroid probably belongs to the Massalia family, a group of bodies present in the main band of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. The type of fragmentation observed – rapid, violent, in phases – could have significant impacts for the planetary defense: in some cases these rapid explosions (or violent disintegrations) can cause greater damage, at least at the level of shock wave, compared to a more gradual disintegration.
For example, the comparison is made with the event of Chelyabinsk (2013), which although not causing direct impacts of meteorites, generated shock waves that have broken glass and caused injuries to many people.
Collaboration. The event confirms how fundamental the collaboration between professionals, amateurs and the general public is: the use of videos, photographs, popular reports has in fact allowed a much wider and detailed coverage. The physical recovery of meteorites allows you to analyze them in the laboratory, obtaining information on the internal composition of the mother asteroid, its mechanical properties, structure, speed and angle of entry into the atmosphere – all factors that influence how and when an asteroid disintegrates.
