The meteor that fell near Berlin in January is about 4.5 billion years old and belongs to a rare class of aubrites, scientists wrote in an article published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

The small asteroid 2024 BX1 burned up in the atmosphere on January 21, in a spectacular celestial display. The fragments fell in the Havelland region of Brandenburg, which surrounds the German capital, and many of them have been collected by scientists and collectors.

About 202 fragments weighing 1.8 kilograms were found in a field near the Brandenburg villages of Ribbecka, Berge and Lietzow, scattered over an area of ​​up to 10 kilometers.

Scientists named the meteorite Ribbeck after the place where it was found. A study from the University of Münster's Institute of Planetology, which was published in a journal on Wednesday, found that Ribbeck belongs to an extremely rare class that are rich in magnesium and silicon.

Ribbeck has a special status within this rare class as the rock contains an unusually high percentage of the silicate mineral feldspar, scientists have discovered.

The research group says Ribbeck's parent body is about 4.5 billion years old and originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The scientists also explained why the fragments smelled strongly of hydrogen sulfide, similar to the smell of rotten eggs: chemical reactions between the minerals and moisture caused the smell and changed the mineralogy of the rock.

Alternatively, aubrite was named after a small meteor that fell in 1836 at Aubres near Nyons, France.