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2023 CX1

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2023 CX1
Photograph of2023 CX1as it entered Earth's atmosphere over northern France on 13 February 2023
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered byKrisztián Sárneczky
Discovery sitePiszkéstető Stn.
Discovery date12 February 2023
Designations
2023 CX1
Sar2667
NEO·Apollo
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch1 January 2023 (JD2459945.5)
Uncertainty parameter5[4]
Observation arc6.57 hours (0.27 d)[1]
Aphelion2.337AU
Perihelion0.921 AU
1.629 AU
Eccentricity0.4346
2.08 yr (760 days)
325.105°
0° 28m25.982s/ day
Inclination3.419°
323.870°
13 February 2021[5]
218.790°
EarthMOID0.000111AU(16,600km;0.043LD)
Physical characteristics
≈1 m[6][7]
Mass≈1000 kg[8]
≈ 13 (peak)[1]
32.645±0.512[4]
32.76[1]

2023 CX1,initially known under temporary designationSar2667,was a metre-sizedasteroidormeteoroidthat entered Earth's atmosphere on 13 February 2023 02:59UTCand disintegrated as ameteorover the coast ofNormandy, Francealong theEnglish Channel.[6]It was discovered less than seven hours beforeimpact,by Hungarian astronomerKrisztián SárneczkyatKonkoly Observatory'sPiszkéstető Stationin theMátra Mountains,Hungary.[2][9]2023 CX1is theseventh asteroiddiscovered before impacting Earth and successfullypredicted,and the third of those for whichmeteoriteshave been recovered. Before it impacted,2023 CX1was anear-Earth asteroidon an Earth-crossingApollo-type orbit.[1]

Discovery

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During a routine search fornear-Earth objectswith his 0.6-metre (60 cm; 2 ft; 24 in)Schmidt telescope,[10]Krisztián Sárneczkyfirst imaged2023 CX1on 12 February 2023 at 20:18:07 UTC, when it was already less than 233,000 km (145,000 mi) from Earth and inside the orbit of the Moon at 0.61lunar distances.[2][11]At discovery, the asteroid had anapparent magnitudeof 19.4 and moved quickly in thenorthern hemisphere sky,at anangular rateof 14arcsecondsper minute and aradial velocityof 9 km/s (5.6 mi/s) towards Earth.[11]Sárneczky immediately recognized it was a near-Earth object, but only realized it was on course forimpactwith Earth when he reobserved it half an hour later.[9]Sárneczky gave the object the temporary designationSar2667and reported the discovery to theMinor Planet Center's (MPC's)Near-Earth Object Confirmation Pageat 20:49 UTC, calling for further follow-up from other observatories around the world.[12]Astronomers atVišnjan Observatoryin Tičan,Croatiaobserved the asteroid starting at 21:03 UTC and confirmed that it was headed for impact with Earth.[2][13]

TheEuropean Space Agencytook notice of the asteroid's impending impact and alerted the public through social media.[10]Astronomers around the world continuously observed the asteroid to refine its trajectory as it approached Earth and its impact location.[12][11]The asteroid reached a peak brightness of magnitude 13 (about the brightness ofPluto) right before itentered Earth's shadowat around 02:50 UTC. It then faded dramatically and became invisible until impact.[1][12]The asteroid was last observed on 13 February 2023 02:52:07 UTC by Jost Jahn at theSATINO Remote ObservatoryinHaute Provence,France, just two minutes after it entered Earth's shadow and seven minutes before it impacted.[1][11]At the time of that last observation, the asteroid had faded from magnitude 13 to 16 and moved extremely quickly at an angular rate of 1.7 degrees per minute, at a distance of approximately 11,100 km (6,900 mi) from Earth's center (4,700 km or 2,900 mi altitude[a]).[14]

On 13 February 2023 04:13 UTC (one hour after the impact), MPC gave the asteroid its officialminor planetprovisional designation2023 CX1.At least 20 observatories observed2023 CX1and submittedastrometryto the MPC before impact, with over 300 astrometric positions recorded in total.[2][1]

Impact

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Flight path of2023 CX1plotted on a map, starting from theEnglish Channeland ending at the coast ofNormandy, Franceto the east.

At 02:59:21 UTC (local time 03:59:21CET),2023 CX1entered the atmosphere at a velocity of 14.5 km/s (9.0 mi/s) with an inclination 40–50° relative to the vertical.[13][15]As the meteoroid travelled eastward over theEnglish Channelto the coast ofNormandy, France,it experienced significantatmospheric dragand began burning up as a brightmeteorat an altitude of 89 km (55 mi).[13][8]It was seen by witnesses from France, Great Britain, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany.[10][16]The meteor began fragmenting at an altitude of 29 km (18 mi) and then completely broke apart at 28 km (17 mi), producing a bright flash due to the rapid vaporization of its fragments.[8]In the process, the meteor released a great amount ofkinetic energy.That produced ashock wave,which was heard by some witnesses and was detected by Frenchseismographs.[15]The meteor disappeared at an altitude of 20 km (12 mi), after which its resultingmeteoritescontinued falling indark flight.[8]Over 80 witness reports of the meteor were submitted to theInternational Meteor Organization(IMO).[16]

The 94g meteorite found by Loïs Leblanc

Upon breakup,2023 CX1dropped meteorites over theNormandyregionand produced astrewn fieldspanning fromDieppetoDoudeville.[15]Guided byPeter Jenniskens,researchers andcitizen scientistsof the Fireball Recovery and Interplanetary Observation Network (FRIPON) immediately began a coordinated search effort in the expectedmeteorite fallarea.[17]On 15 February 2023 15:47 UTC (local time 16:47 CET), FRIPON member and art student Loïs Leblanc found the first meteorite of2023 CX1in a field in thecommuneofSaint-Pierre-le-Viger.[17]The meteorite weighed about 95 g (3.4 oz)[18]and is described as a "dark stone."[17][19]Late in the afternoon of the next day, Peter Jenniskens found a 3 g meteorite near the small-size end of the strewn field that confirmed the predicted center line. By March 2023, over 20 additional meteorites were recovered, with masses ranging 2 to 350 g (0.1 to 12.3 oz).[18]The IMO estimates that2023 CX1could have dropped only one large meteorite up to ~2 kg (4 lb) in mass, plus an uncertain number of smaller meteorites up to several tens of grams each.[6][8]The largest meteorite is expected to have landed near the commune ofVénestanville.[8]

2023 CX1is the seventh asteroid discovered before being successfullypredictedto impact Earth, and also the third whose meteorites were collected after its predicted impact.[6][17]It is Sárneczky's second discovery of an impacting asteroid, after2022 EB5which he discovered a year prior in March 2022.[10]

Orbit

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Prior to impact,2023 CX1was on anApollo-type orbitthat crossed the orbits of Earth and Mars.[3]It orbited the Sun at an average distance of 1.63astronomical units(244×10^6km; 152×10^6mi), varying from 0.92 AU atperihelionto 2.34 AU atapheliondue to itseccentric orbit.[3]The orbit had a lowinclinationof 3.4° with respect to theeclipticand anorbital periodof 2.08 years. The asteroid last passed perihelion on 13 February 2021 and impacted Earth before it was set to make its next perihelion on 15 March 2023.[5][3]

The last time2023 CX1made a close approach to Earth was around 7 (± 1) June 2000, when it passed around 150–161LD(58–62 million km; 36–38 million mi) from the planet.[4]Before that,2023 CX1had made several distant close approaches with Earth and Mars during the 1900s, though it probably never approached within 10 LD (3.8 million km; 2.4 million mi) from these planets.[4]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Altitude is the difference between the geocentric distance andEarth's radiusof 6,371 km (3,959 mi).

References

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  1. ^abcdefgh"2023 CX1".Minor Planet Center.Retrieved13 February2023.
  2. ^abcde"MPEC 2023-C103: 2023 CX1".Minor Planet Electronic Circular.Minor Planet Center. 13 February 2023.Retrieved13 February2023.
  3. ^abcd"Horizons Batch showing epoch 2023-Jan-01".JPL Horizons.Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved13 February2023.
  4. ^abcd"JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2023 CX1)"(2023-02-13 last obs.).Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved13 February2023.
  5. ^ab"Perihelion @ 0.922 AU on 13 Feb 2021".JPL Horizons(Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved13 February2023.
  6. ^abcdWhitt, Kelly Kizer (15 February 2023)."Small asteroid impacts Earth's atmosphere over France".EarthSky.Retrieved15 February2023.
  7. ^Antier, Karl (13 February 2023)."Imminent asteroid entry over the Channel on Feb.13, 02h59 UT".International Meteor Organization.Retrieved13 February2023.
  8. ^abcdefBorovička, Jiří; Spurný, Pavel (15 February 2023)."The atmospheric trajectory of 2023 CX1 and the possible meteorite strewn field".International Meteor Organization.Retrieved15 February2023.
  9. ^ab"Pictures from space! Our image of the day".Space.com.13 February 2023.Retrieved13 February2023.
  10. ^abcdHowell, Elizabeth (13 February 2023)."Falling asteroid sparks brilliant fireball over Europe just hours after discovery (video)".Space.com.Retrieved13 February2023.
  11. ^abcd"Horizons Batch from 2023-Feb-12 20:18 and 2023-Feb-13 03:00".JPL Horizons.Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved13 February2023.
  12. ^abc"Seventh shooting star ever spotted before strike".European Space Agency. 13 February 2023.Retrieved13 February2023.
  13. ^abcAntier, Karl (13 February 2023)."2023 CX1: 7th predicted Earth impact!".International Meteor Organization.Retrieved13 February2023.
  14. ^"Horizons Batch on 2023-Feb-13 02:52:07".JPL Horizons.Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Retrieved14 February2023.
  15. ^abcSteinhausser, Asma (14 February 2023)."Pluie de pierres en Normandie!"(in French). FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel.Retrieved15 February2023.
  16. ^ab"Fireball Events in 2023 → 937-2023".International Meteor Organization. 13 February 2023.Retrieved13 February2023.
  17. ^abcdAntier, Karl (15 February 2023)."Une météorite normande issue de 2023 CX1 retrouvée!"(in French). FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel.Retrieved15 February2023.
  18. ^abGreen, Daniel W. E. (6 March 2023)."CBET 5230: 2023 CX_1".Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams(5230). Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.Retrieved18 February2024.
  19. ^Dickinson, David (17 February 2023)."Small Asteroid Spotted Hours Before Demise".Sky & Telescope.Retrieved19 February2023.
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