Small Asteroid Detected Hours Before Impact Over Germany

NASA's Scout System Provided Warning, Marking Advancements in Planetary Defense Capabilities

A small asteroid, 2024 BX1, was detected just hours before it disintegrated over Germany, marking the eighth time in history that a small Earth-bound asteroid has been detected before impact.
The asteroid was first spotted by Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky using the 60 cm Schmidt Telescope at Hungary’s Piszkéstető Mountain Station.
NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system provided a warning about 95 minutes before the asteroid impacted Earth’s atmosphere.
Despite the asteroid's small size (about 1 meter in diameter), its impact was visible from as far away as the Czech Republic and may have scattered small meteorites on the ground.
The event highlights the increasing precision of near-Earth object (NEO) tracking systems and the advancements in planetary defense capabilities.