Fireball over the USA: Meteor was significantly older than our Earth
A month and a half ago, people in several US states observed a fireball in the sky. Now the analysis of remains has been completed.
Several fragments of the McDonough meteorite
(Image: University of Georgia/Cade Massey)
The meteor that exploded over the southeast of the USA at the end of June was older than our Earth and a fragment of a much larger asteroid that broke up in the asteroid belt around 470 million years ago. This was the result of an analysis of a small chunk of rock that smashed through the roof of a house in the US state of Georgia after the explosion and then damaged the floor, the University of Georgia has now announced. There, geologist Scott Harris examined the fragment and reconstructed its history. He has christened the meteorite McDonough – after the town in Henry County where it hit. However, the responsible department of the Meteoritical Society has yet to confirm the name.
A total of 50 grams
(Image:Â University of Georgia)
As Harris explains, he has classified the meteorite as a so-called chondrite with a low metal content. This means that it was formed 4.56 billion years ago and is older than our Earth. The geologist adds that the fragment under investigation hit the house at a speed of one kilometer per second (3600 km/h), creating a very special noise. According to the geologist, the homeowner was able to hear the stone crashing through the roof and hitting the ground at the same time due to the high speed. There was also a sonic boom. The energy on the floor was still so great that some material was pulverized. The remaining debris weighed a total of 50 grams.
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The fireball of the exploding meteorite could be seen from several US states on June 26. The American Meteor Society received over 200 eyewitness reports, including several videos. The event could even be seen from space. The US climate agency NOAA published a satellite image showing the flash of light. According to NASA, the ultimately destroyed celestial body was previously around one meter in size and traveling at 13 km/s (around 47,000 km/h). The explosion released as much energy as 20 tons of TNT. There were also sonic booms on the ground. Shortly afterwards, it became known that a fragment had been found in a house.
(mho)
