Scientists have confirmed that the asteroid that exploded over Germany last month is a rare spacerock type that could help shed light on Earth's origins. According to Space.com, the fragments of asteroid 2024 BX1 were discovered just five days after the explosion. Scientists analysed the meteorite fragments and found that they were part of a rare group called aubrites. SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens, who was part of the team that recovered the fragments, also said that the meteorites date back approximately 4.5 billion years, coinciding with the formation of the solar system plants.
According to Mr Jenniskens, there had been only 11 known examples of aubrite meteorite falling on Earth in the past. The rare family is believed to represent just 1% of known meteorites, he said, as per the outlet.
The aubrite meteorites stand out due to their unique characteristics. Unlike typical meteorites, they possess a translucent glass crust rather than a thick black one, and they have a grey granite-like appearance, initially causing difficulty in distinguishing them from ordinary Earth rocks.
However, after examining the spacerock, scientists determined that the fragments have the typical mineralogy and chemical composition of aubrite-type rocks. "The interesting thing about this fall is, we have a very nice orbit of it, and so the shape of the orbit itself contains clues as to where the source region for these meteorites was," Mr Jenniskens said.
"They likely came from the inner side of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. That's a place where probably there is a lot of debris, a collision that created a lot of smaller pieces called an asteroid family," he added.
According to Space.com, main belt asteroids like 2024 BX1 were formed at around the same time as the solar system planets, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, from material around the infant sun that was not consumed by the formation of the planets. This means that they offer scientists a glimpse at the building blocks of the planets, especially in the inner solar system rocky worlds Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth.
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Mr Jenniskens also noted that aubrites, like these meteorites, exhibit properties remarkably similar to those of Earth, such as water content and chemical ratios. These similarities offer researchers a unique opportunity to study the materials involved in the formation of our planet billions of years ago.
"It's very cool. We have fresh material to look at that may have been the building blocks from which Earth was formed. And so that's the appeal of this particular meteorite," Mr Jenniskens said.
Notably, the asteroid, which was approximately 1 meter in size, erupted over Munich, Germany, on January 21. It is believed to be one of the smallest space rocks ever detected before it hit Earth.
