SAINT-PIERRE-LE-VIGER meteorite fall (L5-6, C-S3, >1132.84 g) of asteroid 2023 CX1 (Sar2667) found! Meteorite fall at ~2:59:21 UT on 13 February 2023 near Angiens and Saint-Pierre-le-Viger, Seine Maritime, France

15/02/2023 22:21 · by karmaka · in L, meteorite, ordinary chondrite, Saint-Pierre-le-Viger, witnessed fall

Last update: 1 June 2023 (12:20 CEST)

By 22 February 2023 12 meteorites (206.2 g total, L5-6) were found by the first Vigie-Ciel search team during their first search campaign (15-19 February). Private search teams have found at least another seven meteorite specimens, one weighing ~23 grams and another 175.2 grams, which was bought by the British film producer and meteorite collector Bil Bungay (58). Together with some Vigie-Ciel finds the specimen has been on display at the MNHN Paris from 31 May 2023 where it is curated on loan for at least five years. Most private landowners on whose land the Vigie-Ciel finds were made have agreed to donate the meteorites to the MNHNP. In the afternoon of 26 February Thierry Monter found a ~490-gram mass which broke into several pieces (largest: ~80 g) on its impact on pavement. Bigger fragments weigh 70 and 52 grams. Łukasz Smuła, Magdalena Skirzewska found 20 specimens (largest: 148.6 g) with a total weight of 231.84 g. On 29 May 2023 the meteorite fall was added to the Meteoritical Bulletin as Saint-Pierre-le-Viger.

The known strewn field of the Saint-Pierre-le-Viger meteorite fall

If you can contribute exact fall locations of other found specimens, please contact us. They will be added to the strewn field map above. Thank you!

Si vous pouvez contribuer aux emplacements exacts d’autres spécimens trouvés, veuillez nous contacter. Ils seront ajoutés à la carte ci-dessus. Merci !

List of Vigie-Ciel (15-19 February 2023) and other finds according to data published by 31 May 2023

Weight (grams)	Fall location	Search team and time
92.6, donated to MNHN Paris	49°49’15.28″N, 0°49’35.04″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
3.0	49°49’57.66″N, 0°46’53.90″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
7.6	49°49’53.26″N, 0°47’09.68″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
9.0	49°49’58.74″N, 0°47’09.78″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
7.2	49°49’58.20″N, 0°47’00.08″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
4.0	49°49’56.30″N, 0°47’04.20″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
5.4	49°49’51.64″N, 0°47’10.50″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
11.0	49°49’32.79″N, 0°47’42.86″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
17.0	49°49’23.11″N, 0°47’54.35″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
23.6	49°49’32.08″N, 0°47’51.35″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
23.8	49°49’21.96″N, 0°47’59.57″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
2.0	49°49’26.67″N, 0°48’02.18″E	Vigie-Ciel (15-19 Feb. 2023)
	Inofficially reported finds
~175.2 (intact specimen), displayed at MNHN Paris	area of Fontaine-le-Dun	Steve Arnold, Roberto Vargas
~23 (intact specimen)		Vincent Jacques (24 February 2023)
~490 (fragments, largest: ~80 g)	in Autigny	Thierry Monter (26 February 2023)
6.6	49°50’48.0″N, 0°47’15.0″E	Zsolt Kereszty (1 March 2023, 11 am)
20 specimens (231.84 g), largest: 148.6 g		Łukasz Smuła, Magdalena Skirzewska (23 February – 13 March)

The first meteorite (92.6 grams, 5×3 cm, L5-6) found in the afternoon of 15 February 2023. Its radioisotopes are currently being measured at the Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Thin section analyses for the classification of the meteorite are currently being done at the Natural History Museum in Vienna and Paris. The land owner has generously given the specimen to the National meteorite collection at MNHNP. Photo: FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel (15 February 2023)

Photo: Dieppe Pilotesetcie

Image: TF1

Image: TF1

Image: BFMTV (16 February 2023)

Image: BFMTV (16 February 2023)

Proud search team members Sylvain Bouley (GEOPS, Univ. Paris Saclay, Société Astronomique de France), François Colas (CNRS/Observatoire de Paris IMCCE), Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center), Bernard Kieffer (association Pilotes & Cie), Sam Labenne, Luc Labenne, Loïs Leblanc-Rappe, Michael Leblanc (Perche Astronomie), Géraldine Rappe, Dominique Richard (association Pilotes & Cie), Asma Steinhausser (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle),Jean-Philippe Uzan (CNRS/Institut d’astrophysique de Paris), Pierre Vernazza (CNRS/LAM, Institut Origines, OSU-Pytheas). Photo: FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel (15 February 2023)

Loïs Leblanc-Rappe and her embedded find in situ in a field in Saint-Pierre-le-Viger. Photo: FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel (15 February 2023)

The first meteorite of Apollo-type asteroid 2023 CX1 / 2023 CX1 has been found by a FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel search team! It was found in a field of the municipality Saint-Pierre-le-Viger (Seine Maritime) at 16:47 CET on 15 February 2023 by 18-year-old team member Loïs Leblanc-Rappe from La Ferté-Bernard (Sarthe), an art school student. After the 6-person team had scanned three strips of a field back and forth the meteorite was found. Members of the search time were Sylvain Bouley (GEOPS, Univ. Paris Saclay, Société Astronomique de France), François Colas (CNRS/Observatoire de Paris IMCCE), Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center), Bernard Kieffer (association Pilotes & Cie), Sam Labenne, Luc Labenne, Loïs Leblanc-Rappe, Michael Leblanc (Perche Astronomie), Géraldine Rappe, Dominique Richard (association Pilotes & Cie), Asma Steinhausser (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle), Jean-Philippe Uzan (CNRS/Institut d’astrophysique de Paris), Pierre Vernazza (CNRS/LAM, Institut Origines, OSU-Pytheas)

Additional finds

The 175.2-gram mass

The 175-gramm mass found near or on a tennis court in Fontaine-le-Dun. Photo: Roberto Vargas

The 175-gramm mass found in Fontaine-le-Dun. Photo: Bil Bungay

The 175-gramm mass found in Fontaine-le-Dun. Photo: Bil Bungay

Other masses

The 52-gram fragment of Thierry Monter’s fragmented find on 26 February 2023. Photo: Thierry Monter

The 52-gram fragment of Thierry Monter’s fragmented find on 26 February 2023. Video: Thierry Monter

An embedded 23-gram specimen in situ, found by Vincent Jacques on 24 February 2023 after having walked the fall area for about 103 kilometres. Photo: Vincent Jacques

Photo: Vigie-Ciel

Photo: Vigie-Ciel

Photo: Vigie-Ciel

Félicitations!

The bolide

The meteoroid 2023 CX1 (Sar2667 in Sárneczky’s honor) was first imaged on 12 February 2023 at 20:18:07 UTC by Krisztián Sárneczky (above: four 25-second stacked images) with a 0.60-m Schmidt telescope at Konkoly Observatory’s Piszkéstető Station in the Mátra Mountains, Hungary, about 1404 km from the find location of the meteorites . Images/ Video: Krisztián Sárneczky/Konkoly Observatory

Gijs de Reijke captured the bolide from Boxtel, the Netherlands with a Nikon D850 in a 30-second exposure. Photo: Gijs de Reijke

Video of the bolide, recorded from Boxtel, the Netherlands. Video: Daphne (@DaphneOudman)

Bolide recorded from countryside in Normandie. Video: Hadrien D (@haaadry)

Bolide recorded from Le Havre, France. Video: Kevin (@tymlaly76700)

Bolide recorded from Brighton, England. Video: Kade (@KadeFlowers)

Bolide recorded from la place de l’éclipse in Fécamp, Normandie, France. Video: Aurélien Declerck (@decaurel76) About 2 to 2.30 minutes later the detonation boom could be heard.

The bolide recorded from Rouen, France. Video: Thomas Petit (@MegaLuigi)

Bolide recorded from English coast facing the French coast. Video: مُحَمَّد@aljibaalu

Bolide recorded from Trestraou beach at Perros Guire. Video: Vision-Environnement

Bolide recorded by Mike Panter from Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands, in an eastern direction. Video: Mike Panter

Bolide recorded from Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England. Video: JunoJim1

The bolide photographed from Le Mans, France by David Legangneux. Photo: David Legangneux

Media

Sur la piste des météorites (La Terre au carré, France Inter, 31 May 2023)
Interview (in French) with Brigitte Zanda and Sylvain Bouley about the Saint-Pierre-le-Viger fall.