The asteroid that burned up near Berlin was probably about one meter in diameter. However, the value is associated with a certain degree of uncertainty, said Robert Luther, research associate at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, to the dpa. Scientists determine the size of the celestial body based on its brightness and the proportion of radiation that it reflects.
In January, the asteroid 2024 BX1 burned up near Berlin. The fireball could be seen from far away in the sky. A team of scientists then discovered several meteorites in Brandenburg. Meteorites are the pieces that arrive on Earth from a celestial body. According to the museum, initial results from examinations of more than 20 samples proved that it is a rare so-called aubrite.
The asteroid probably comes from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. According to the museum, it was created more than 4.5 billion years ago at the time of the formation of the solar system “through progressive collision and agglomeration of particles that were originally the size of dust.”
