Though it appeared to be “nothing special at first,” Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky still managed to spot asteroid 2023 CX1 hours before it crashed and burned over the English Channel. Here’s why this is great for science.
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00:00Nothing special at first, tweeted astronomer Christian Czarnecki about an asteroid he spotted
00:09hours before it lit up the skies over the English Channel as a blazing fireball.
00:15This marked only the seventh time in human history that an asteroid was detected prior
00:20to entering Earth's atmosphere, and of those, it was the third such detection in 12 months.
00:26Not only that, but measuring just over 3 feet wide, 2023 CX1 is also one of the smallest
00:33impactors ever detected.
00:36That's huge, scientifically speaking.
00:38It means humans are getting a lot better at spotting potential meteorites before they
00:42hit.
00:43To date, astronomers have discovered and catalogued over 30,000 near-Earth asteroids, space rocks
00:50which pose some risk to entering Earth's space as they orbit around the sun.
00:55Most of these are pretty tiny, and like 2023 CX1, would likely burn up upon entering Earth's
01:01atmosphere.
01:02Though such events pose little danger to humans, more advanced warning can only give us a better
01:08opportunity to catch the fireworks.