An asteroid around the size of two wild ducks impacted above Berlin, Germany, early Sunday morning, according to NASA.
The asteroid in question, designated 2024 BX1, was detected just three hours before impact by Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky.
This is only the eighth time in history that an asteroid impact was predicted like this.
The asteroid did not cause any damage, and disintegrated into a harmless fireball upon impact. Videos of the asteroid's flight over Europe were spread over social media.
Here's the full video of the asteroid #Sar2736, a ~1 m object that broke up some 50 m west of #Belin, #Germany, and probably dropped some meteorites on the ground. Video credit: https://t.co/72o6ZzPNz8 pic.twitter.com/PA73dkqid1
— Denis Vida (@meteordoc) January 21, 2024
Duck for cover? How big was the asteroid that hit Germany in 2024?
Asteroid 2024 BX1, initially designated as Sar2736, was measured by German astronomer Michael Aye, who told Reuters it was around one meter in diameter.
For comparison, compare this asteroid to a duck.
Mallards, also known as wild ducks, is the most recognizable species of waterfowl in the world and can be found practically everywhere.
According to the The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nonprofit, the average mallard has a length of around 51 centimeters, though some can grow as much as 65 centimeters. That means that asteroid 2024 BX1 was around two ducks long.
An asteroid most fowl: Are more asteroids going to hit the Earth in 2024?
Asteroid 2024 BX1 was rather small and, like many other smaller asteroids, disintegrated harmlessly into the atmosphere.
The chances of other small asteroids like this hitting the Earth this year are rather high, as meteors regularly hit the Earth and disintegrate upon impacting the atmosphere.
In other words, there's no need to duck for cover.
But what is so important about asteroid 2024 BX1 impacting Germany is that this asteroid was predicted prior to its impact.
Asteroid prediction can be rather difficult, and while NASA has calculated many of the millions of asteroids that float through our solar system, there are plenty that we don't see coming.
However, over the years, scientists have gotten much better at spotting these small space rocks hurling toward us.
Asteroid 2024 BX1, in particular, was spotted by Sárneczky, and this is notably the third such asteroid he ever discovered shortly before it impacted the Earth.
The previous one, asteroid 2023 CX1, was around the size of two Super Bowl trophies and impacted the Earth near Normandy, France, just seven hours after Sárneczky discovered it.
The first asteroid he discovered right before impact was 2022 EB5, an asteroid around half the size of a giraffe that was spotted just two hours before impacting near Norwegian territory.
While these asteroids were on the small side, though, the larger ones can pose a greater danger. As such, the field of planetary defense is still hard at work trying to devise ways of protecting the Earth from asteroids.
The most promising so far is kinetic deflection, as demonstrated by NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission, which managed to alter the orbital path of a faraway asteroid.
Reuters contributed to this report.