Summary

2024 XA1 was the eleventh asteroid discovered on an impact trajectory, and the fourth one in 2024. It was found by the Catalina Sky Survey team observing from Kitt Peak, Arizona. It impacted our planet about 10 hours after discovery, in a remote area of the Sakha Republic, Russia.

Discovery circumstances and follow-up

The fourth impactor of this year was first reported by V. F. Carvajal, using the 2.3 m Bok telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona (the same telescope that discovered (99942) Apophis more than 20 years ago). With just the discovery set of observations, both ESA's Meerkat and JPL's Scout systems reported a very small <1% chance of impact. However, as soon as follow-up was received about an hour after discovery, both algorithms immediately agreed on a certain impact, somewhere over the territory of Russia.

Astrometric follow-up started appearing over the next few hours, first from stations in the United States and then from Asia. The object then entered Earth's shadow about 20 minutes before impact.

Trajectory in Space

In the video below, the autumn equinox points to the left side of the image. The view is tilted by approximately 30 degrees above the Ecliptic.

Trajectory Relative to the Earth

The video below shows the trajectory in space of 2024 XA1 in the hours prior to its impact with Earth. The size of the asteroid is one million times larger than its true size to make it visible.

2D Impact Corridor

The plot below shows the entry point on the ground, without including the atmospheric effects.

3D Impact Corridor

The highlighted area in the animation below represents the 1-σ (in red) and the 3-σ (in orange) fall area of the propagated object without including the atmospheric effects.

Atmospheric phase details 

The asteroid approached Earth at a significant inclination of approximately 51 degrees. Its atmospheric entry generated a bright fireball, which was recorded by multiple webcams and several witnesses. The footage exhibits a complex light curve indicative of fragmentations occurring at various altitudes.

Search for meteorites

Based on all available observations, the impact point at an altitude of 100 km has a 1-σ uncertainty of 220 meters. The estimated size of the object was approximately one meter, and its entry speed (15.5 km/s) suggests the possibility of some fragments surviving and falling as meteorites. The entry angle of 51results in a relatively compact strewn field, which has been computed using a refined ab initio model that accounts for different fragmentation scenarios and atmospheric effects (Gianotto et al., 2025). The possible strewn fields largely overlapping depending on fragmentation height, with a length of approximately 10 km for a typical fragmentation strength of 0.5 MPa. However, the location is very remote in the Sakha Republic (Russia), and no recovery efforts have been reported so far.