Asteroid 2023 CX1, a mini-meteor roughly the size of a refrigerator and weighing about 650 kilograms, attracted worldwide interest. It beautifully arched through Earth’s atmosphere and perished in a breathtaking display of flames, captivating everyone in attendance. A Hungarian astronomer discovered the asteroid first, roughly 200,000 kilometers away from our planet. It blew up in a violent double explosion, about 28 kilometers over the planet’s surface. This innovation paired with technology made for a stunning exhibition. Tragically, it did more damage as well — it broke thousands of windows and injured more than 1,000 people across the city.
The asteroid community closely monitored the asteroid from its first detection. They tracked its journey across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to its eventual impact site near Bordeaux, France. To accomplish this, scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency collaborated with professional and amateur astronomers. Collectively, they contributed to the most precise calculations ever made for an approaching asteroid.
The Disintegration Event
As Asteroid 2023 CX1 fell through Earth’s atmosphere, it disintegrated into five pieces. During their short flight through the air, each of these pieces emitted a huge amount of energy in the form of fragments.
Brigitte Zanda, one of the pioneers in the field, noted the importance of this occasion. “This is maybe only the second time we have observed fragmentation like this,” she stated regarding the unique disintegration pattern of the asteroid.
The disintegration provided the largest known explosion of energy. In fact, simulations show that this kind of sudden fragmentation would be more destructive than a slow, progressive breakup. That resulting shockwave was strong enough to break windows up to three miles away, causing thousands of injuries.
Recovery Efforts and Findings
After the impact, operations began to search for and recover meteorites from Asteroid 2023 CX1. Only 48 hours after the breakup, scientists found the first meteorite. It had a weight of 93 grams, and it was located in the common of Saint-Pierre-le-Viger in northwestern France. In the following days, a couple of dozen meteorites were found and placed into local museum collections for continued research.
The chance to find meteorites from Asteroid 2023 CX1 is especially exciting. Notably, in the history of science, scientists have detected just 11 asteroids prior to their impact with Earth. Out of these, we have recovered meteorites from only four. This makes the gathering of materials from CX1 a majestic accomplishment for both amateur and professional astronomers.
The Role of Amateur Astronomers
Amateur astronomers were the real unsung heroes of the story, helping track Asteroid 2023 CX1 as it traveled toward Earth. Their observations were force multipliers, meaning their work added priceless data to that collected by larger institutions such as NASA and the European Space Agency. This effort is a great example of how citizen science is critical to the success of today’s astronomy.
Zanda highlighted the contributions of this community: “We have an extremely useful video showing the object fragmenting, which lets us see how many pieces it broke into — and how this happened.” Such footage enhances our scientific understanding of asteroid behavior. It dramatically increases public enthusiasm and interest in space and in stargazing.
Asteroid 2023 CX1 originated from a larger parent body. This giant boulder is a member of the Massalia asteroid family, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Its dramatic entry and subsequent fragmentation serve as reminders of the dynamic nature of our solar system and the potential hazards posed by near-Earth objects.