Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | V. F. Carvajal |
Discovery site | Kitt Peak – Bok (V00) |
Discovery date | 3 December 2024 |
Designations | |
2024 XA1 | |
C0WEPC5 | |
NEO · Apollo | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 3 December 2024 (JD 2460647.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
Observation arc | 9 h (540 min) |
Aphelion | 2.541 AU |
Perihelion | 0.852 AU |
1.696 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.4977 |
2.21 yr (807 d) | |
349.188° | |
0° 26m 45.795s / day | |
Inclination | 0.108° |
72.255° | |
53.100° | |
Earth MOID | 3.27716×10−5 AU (4.90256×103 km) |
Physical characteristics [2] [3] | |
~1 m (3.3 ft) | |
32.974±0.476 | |
2024 XA1, formerly designated as C0WEPC5, is a small meteoroid that fell over eastern Siberia near the city of Olekminsk on 3 December 2024, 16:15 GMT, around 1,000 kilometers east of the Tunguska event impact location. [4] [5] It is the eleventh impact event ever that was successfully predicted, and the fourth in 2024. The impact was witnessed by many people across the Yakutia region of Siberia. [6]
The object was discovered at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States. The time between discovery and impact was around 12 hours, making it the second-longest lead time between discovery and impact, behind only the discovery and impact of 2008 TC3. [7]
The object exploded as a fireball over eastern Siberia, and was visible to many of the people in that sparsely populated region. Currently, no meteorites have been found yet, but it was speculated to be in the remote forests of that region. [6]