Article (Scientific journals)
Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence
Egal, Auriane; Vida, Denis; Colas, François et al.
2025In Nature Astronomy, 9, p. 1624-1637
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Keywords :
meteor; asteroid; fireball; meteorites
Abstract :
[en] Mitigation of the threat from airbursting asteroids requires an understanding of the potential risk they pose for the ground. How asteroids release their kinetic energy in the atmosphere is not well understood due to the rarity of large impacts. Here we present a comprehensive, space-to-laboratory characterization of an impact of an L chondrite, which represents a common type of Earth-impacting asteroid. Small asteroid 2023 CX1 was detected in space and predicted to impact over Normandy, France, on 13 February 2023. Observations from several independent sensors and reduction techniques revealed an unusual but potentially high-risk fragmentation behaviour. The nearly spherical 650 ± 160 kg (72 ± 6 cm diameter) asteroid catastrophically fragmented at a dynamic pressure of 4 MPa around 28 km altitude, releasing 98% of its total energy in a concentrated region of the atmosphere. The resulting shock wave was spherical, not cylindrical, and released more energy closer to the ground. This type of fragmentation increases the risk of substantial damage at ground level. These results warrant consideration for a planetary defence strategy for cases where a >3-4 MPa dynamic pressure is expected, including planning for evacuation of areas beneath anticipated disruption locations.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Egal, Auriane;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Planétarium de Montréal, Espace pour la Vie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada,
Vida, Denis;  University of Western Ontario, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Colas, François;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Zanda, Brigitte;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, IMPMC, Paris, France
Bouley, Sylvain;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, GEOPS, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France
Steinhausser, Asma;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, PatriNat, MNHN, OFB, IRD, CNRS, Paris, France
Vernazza, Pierre;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France
Ferrière, Ludovic;  Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria, -
Gattacceca, Jérôme;  CEREGE, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, INRAE, Aix-en-Provence, France
Birlan, Mirel;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
Vaubaillon, Jérémie;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Antier, Karl;  International Meteor Organization, Hove, Belgium
Anghel, Simon;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
Desmars, Josselin;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées (IPSA), Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Baillié, Kévin;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Maquet, Lucie;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Bouquillon, Sébastien;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Malgoyre, Adrien;  Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers, Institut Pythéas, Marseille, France
Jeanne, Simon;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France
Fripon International Team;  Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Astronomical Institute
Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep Maria;  Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Astronomical Institute
Herrero, Enrique;  Space Science and Technology Centre and International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Rowe, Jim;  NEO Coordination Centre, Planetary Defence Office, ESA, Frascati, Italy
Smedley, Andrew R. D.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
King, Ashley;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sylla, Salma;  University of Western Ontario, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Gardiol, Daniele;  University of Western Ontario, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Barghini, Dario;  Konkoly Observatory, HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
Lamy, Hervé ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > COMets METeors and Asteroids (COMETA) ; Eotvos Lorand University, Department of Astronomy
Jehin, Emmanuel  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) ; Lowell Observatory, Arizona
Koschny, Detlef;  Lowell Observatory, Arizona
Poppe, Bjorn;  University of Alacant, Spain, Instituto de Ciencias del Cosmos, Barcelona
Jordán, Andrés;  Direction des Applications Militaires, Ile-de-France
Mendez, Rene A.;  Direction des Applications Militaires, Ile-de-France
Vieira, Katherine;  Direction des Applications Militaires, Ile-de-France
Cremades, Hebe;  University of Western Ontario, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Aoudjehane, Hasnaa Chennaoui;  Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Benkhaldoun, Zouhair;  Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Technical University of Delft, Faculty of Technical Geosciences and Engineering
Borovička, Jiří;  Inst. für Geochemie und Petrologie, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Spurný, Pavel;  Inst. für Geochemie und Petrologie, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Devillepoix, Hadrien A. R.;  Inst. für Geochemie und Petrologie, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Micheli, Marco;  Inst. für Geochemie und Petrologie, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Farnocchia, Davide;  Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), University of Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, LEMAR, Plouzané, France, Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
Naidu, Shantanu;  Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Brown, Peter;  Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Wiegert, Paul;  Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Sárneczky, Krisztián;  University of Vienna, Department of Physics
Pál, András;  University of Vienna, Department of Physics
Moskovitz, Nick;  University of Vienna, Department of Physics
Kareta, Theodore;  University of Vienna, Department of Physics
Santana-Ros, Toni;  Institut de Mineralogie, de Physique des Materiaux et de Cosmochimie, Paris
Le Pichon, Alexis;  Institut de Mineralogie, de Physique des Materiaux et de Cosmochimie, Paris
Mazet-Roux, Gilles;  Institut de Mineralogie, de Physique des Materiaux et de Cosmochimie, Paris
Vergoz, Julien;  Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, -
McFadden, Luke;  Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
Assink, Jelle;  Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Evers, Läslo;  European Southern Observatory, Germany
Krietsch, Daniela;  Universite de Strasbourg Louis Pasteur, France
Busemann, Henner;  Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Maden, Colin;  NEO Coordination Centre, Planetary Defence Office, ESA, Frascati, Italy
Eckart, Lisa Maria;  NEO Coordination Centre, Planetary Defence Office, ESA, Frascati, Italy
Barrat, Jean-Alix;  NEO Coordination Centre, Planetary Defence Office, ESA, Frascati, Italy
Povinec, Pavel;  Schiaparelli Observatory, Varese, Italy
Sýkora, Ivan;  Romanian Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute
Kontul', Ivan;  Romanian Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute
Marchhart, Oscar;  Saint-Pardon-de-Conques Observatory, Saint-Pardon-de-Conques, France
Martschini, Martin;  Dax Observatory, Dax, France
Merchel, Silke;  Višnjan Observatory, Visnjan, Croatia
Wieser, Alexander;  SATINO Remote Observatory, Saint-Michel-L'Observatoire, France
Gounelle, Matthieu;  SATINO Remote Observatory, Saint-Michel-L'Observatoire, France
Pont, Sylvain;  Astronomical Society Istra Pula, Pula, Croatia
Sans-Jofre, Pierre;  The UK Meteor Network, Tackley, UK
de Vet, Sebastiaan;  Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany
Baziotis, Ioannis;  Institute de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
Brož, Miroslav;  FRIPON, LTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université Lille, Paris, France, Space Science and Technology Centre and International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Marsset, Michaël;  CEREGE, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, INRAE, Aix-en-Provence, France
Vergne, Jérôme;  Planétarium de Montréal, Espace pour la Vie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Hanuš, Josef;  Asteroid Threat Assessment Project, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
Devogele, Maxime ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > COMets METeors and Asteroids (COMETA) ; SETI Institute, California
Conversi, Luca
Ocaña, Francisco
Buzzi, Luca
Nedelcu, Dan Alin
Sonka, Adrian
Losse, Florent
Dupouy, Philippe
Korlević, Korado
Husar, Dieter
Jahn, Jost
Šegon, Damir
McIntyre, Mark
Neubert, Ralf
Beck, Pierre
Shober, Patrick
Lagain, Anthony
Hernandez, Olivier
Robertson, Darrel
Jenniskens, Peter
More authors (88 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence
Publication date :
01 November 2025
Journal title :
Nature Astronomy
eISSN :
2397-3366
Publisher :
Springer Nature, London, Gb
Volume :
9
Pages :
1624-1637
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Available on ORBi :
since 24 November 2025

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