{"id":776703,"date":"2024-02-11T12:32:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T17:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=776703"},"modified":"2024-02-11T12:32:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T17:32:51","slug":"asteroid-that-exploded-in-german-skies-is-rare-aubrite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=776703","title":{"rendered":"Asteroid that exploded in German skies is rare aubrite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThis is one of the meteorites \u2013 rocks from space \u2013 recovered from the asteroid that exploded in the skies over Germany on January 21, 2024. Analysis shows that it\u2019s a rare type of meteorite, known as an aubrite. Image via Museum f\u00fcr Naturkunde Berlin by Laura Kranich\/ SETI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Asteroid that hit Germany was a rare type<\/h3>\n
Astronomers discovered a new asteroid last January 21, 2024, just hours before it struck Earth\u2019s atmosphere above Germany. As it fell, producing a fireball, the little asteroid dropped meteorites \u2013 or fragments of itself \u2013 onto the countryside below. Meteorite hunters west of Berlin got to work and soon discovered asteroid fragments, which they then sent to labs for scientific analysis On February 5, 2024, the SETI Institute said the rock from space was a rare type: an aubrite. They said the fragments might have originated on Mercury. <\/p>\n
The SETI Institute scientists said aubrites are tricky to find. Most meteorites that hit Earth have a thin black outer crust, resulting from their fiery passage through Earth\u2019s atmosphere. But aubrites have a mostly translucent, glassy crust.<\/p>\n
Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute traveled to Germany to help hunt for the meteorites. He said in a statement:<\/p>\n
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They were devilishly difficult to find because, from a distance, they look like other rocks on Earth. Close up, not so much \u2026 We only spotted the meteorites after a Polish team of meteorite hunters had identified the first find and could show us what to look for.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It was Jenniskens\u2019 4th trip to the site of an asteroid impact where remnant meteorites were indeed found on the ground. The previous three were in Sudan in 2008, Botswana in 2018, and France in 2023.<\/p>\n
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An official classification<\/h3>\n
Scientists at the Natural History Museum of Berlin examined one of the meteorites with an electron beam microprobe, which is a non-destructive tool that determines the chemical composition of small volumes of solid materials. They found the mineralogy and chemical composition was that of an aubrite. Then, they submitted their result to the International Nomenclature Commission of the Meteoritical Society on February 2, 2024. The society examined the meteorite and confirmed their classification.<\/p>\n
Aubrites are named for a village in France: Aubr\u00e9s. On September 14, 1836, a meteorite fell in this location and showed evidence of a violent origin. These magnesium-rich, igneous rocks might have originated on Mercury.<\/p>\n
Ansgar Greshake, scientific head of the Natural History Museum of Berlin\u2019s meteorite collection, said: <\/p>\n
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So far, there is only material from eleven other observed falls of this type in meteorite collections worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Christopher Hamann of the Natural History Museum of Berlin further described rare aubrites: <\/p>\n
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Aubrites do not look like what people generally imagine meteorites to look like. Aubrites look more like a gray granite and consist mainly of the magnesium silicates enstatite and forsterite. It contains hardly any iron and the glassy crust, which is usually a good way to recognize meteorites, looks completely different than that of most other meteorites. Aubrites are therefore difficult to detect in the field.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The recovery of the meteorites<\/h3>\n
Meteorite hunters were on high alert on January 21, when reports first came in that an asteroid was going to impact Earth\u2019s atmosphere above Germany. Observers in the area watched a bright burst of light as the asteroid exploded. Though small, the asteroid was large enough to survive in the form of small fragments that showered the countryside west of Berlin. And on January 26, 2024, the Natural History Museum of Berlin said that searchers found suspected fragments the size of a walnut.<\/p>\nMeteorite hunters came up big in the fields west of Berlin in late January. They found what they believed to be a fragment of the small asteroid that hit over Germany on January 21, 2024. See more photos of meteorites below. Image via Cevin Dettlaff\/ Natural History Museum of Berlin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Other meteorite hunters have also been sharing their finds on social media.<\/p>\n
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Via Carlos Augusto Di Pietro<\/p>\n
The first meteorites from the asteroid 2024 BX1 (the Berlin fireball) that entered our atmosphere on January 20 were found. Fragments were located by Micha? Nebelski, Kryspin Kmieciak and Kazimierz Magneto pic.twitter.com\/cuo2pIx3W5<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/01\/Berlin-asteroid-find-Meteoritenfund-im-Havelland-Cevin-Dettlaff-Museum.jpg\")