Several observatories across China have captured rare and remarkable images of a falling near-Earth asteroid, formally designated as 2024 XA1. This event marks a significant achievement in global efforts to monitor and predict asteroid impacts, highlighting China’s crucial role in planetary defense.
The asteroid, estimated to be between 75 centimeters and one meter in diameter, was first detected by a University of Arizona telescope at 5:55 a.m. (UTC) on December 3. Less than 12 hours later, at 4:15 p.m. (UTC), it entered Earth’s atmosphere over eastern Siberia, igniting into a bright fireball visible from the ground.
Chinese observatories seized the opportunity presented by their strategic geographic locations. The Lijiang branch of the Yunnan Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) captured images of the asteroid using its 2.4-meter telescope between 3:10 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (UTC) on December 3.
“Our research team formulated an observation plan based on forecast information and the asteroid’s characteristics six hours before its expected entry into the atmosphere,” said Zhang Xiliang, a researcher at the Lijiang observatory. “We adopted a wait-and-see method at our designated position, anticipating the fast-moving nature of 2024 XA1, and successfully captured precious images within the hour before its fall to Earth.”
The Lijiang observatory’s 2.4-meter telescope is currently the largest general-purpose optical astronomical telescope in East Asia capable of tracking and observing fast-moving targets like near-Earth asteroids with high precision. Its location at an altitude of over 3,200 meters and low latitude makes it one of China’s premier sites for night sky observations.
Other Chinese observatories, including the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), the Lenghu observatory in Qinghai Province, and the Xingming Observatory in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, also successfully captured images of the asteroid. The PMO managed to capture images approximately 42 minutes before the asteroid’s impact.
Within two hours following the impact, the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union had received a total of 64 observations from around the world and officially designated the asteroid as 2024 XA1.
The successful prediction and observation of the asteroid’s descent marks the 11th time such an early warning has been achieved globally, and the fourth in 2024. “The destructive power of near-Earth asteroids impacting Earth is enormous, and early warnings and defense against such asteroids are of great importance to the safety of humanity,” Zhang emphasized. “The achievement made this time will provide solid scientific support for China’s efforts in early warnings and defense against near-Earth asteroids.”
The increasing success of asteroid-Earth impact predictions is attributed to the continuous improvement of global near-Earth asteroid monitoring and warning capabilities. The PMO is dedicated to researching methods to monitor and predict near-Earth asteroids and actively advocates for the construction of a next-generation near-Earth object monitoring and warning network.
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China's observatories capture images of falling near-Earth asteroid
cgtn.com
