The scientist discovered the asteroid just hours before it exploded in the sky above Berlin

 For the eighth time in history, scientists have managed to detect an asteroid (or meteorite) before it enters the Earth's atmosphere. A small celestial body exploded in the sky above the outskirts of Berlin on the night of January 21, and scientists learned of its approach within hours.

The asteroid, named 2024 BXI, was discovered by astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky, working at the Piskestetö Observatory Station at the Konkoya Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. The scientist discovered the object using the 60-centimeter Schmidt telescope about three hours before the object entered the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, NASA provided a detailed forecast of where and when the object would fall.

  “West of Berlin, near Nehnhausen, at 1:32 a.m. CET, a small asteroid will disintegrate into a harmless fireball. Observers will see it if it is clear!” the American agency said on the X social networking site.

Scientists estimate that 2024 BXI was about one meter in size when it exploded. Probably several fragments reached Earth. In recent years, Sárneczky has discovered several hundred asteroids and was the first to discover 2022 EB5 two hours before it entered the Earth's atmosphere. He was helped to discover 2024 BXI by data from the Konkoya Observatory. This is a rare piece of luck. The European Space Agency estimates that 99% of near-Earth asteroids smaller than 30 m in diameter have not yet been discovered. The rule is that the smaller the object, the closer to Earth it must fly to be detected. In some cases, asteroids can be hidden in bright sunlight, as was the case with the meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk in 2013.

Space agencies around the world are currently working on new technologies to scan the sky for asteroids before they come into contact with Earth. NASA plans to launch the NEO Surveyor satellite in 2027, and the European NEOMIR space probe will launch in 2030 or later. In 2025, the Observatory will be named after Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. The head of the solar system research department at the observatory, Mario Jurić, recalled that in 200 years, humanity has discovered 1.2 million asteroids, and in the first six months of operation of the new telescope, this number may double.