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Almost 300 grams (10.6 ounces) of the meteorite were collected in the small town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire by scientists, who said the rock was formed from carbonaceous chondrite. The substance is one of the most primitive and intact materials in the solar system and is known to contain organic materials and amino acids – the ingredients for life.
The Natural History Museum in London said the fragments were recovered in such good condition and so quickly after the meteorite fell that they were comparable to rock samples returned from space missions, both in quality and in amount.
“I was in shock when I saw it and immediately knew it was a rare meteorite and a totally unique event. It’s touching to be the first to confirm to people standing in front of you that the thudding noise they heard in their driveway at night is actually the real thing, ”said Richard Greenwood, planetary science researcher at the ‘Open University, in a museum statement. He was the first scientist to identify the meteorite.
There are about 65,000 known meteorites on Earth, according to the museum. Only 1,206 have been observed, and among them, only 51 are carbonaceous chondrites.
The fireball has been seen by thousands of eyewitnesses across the UK and Northern Europe and was captured by home surveillance and other cameras when it fell to Earth at 9:54 p.m. GMT. February 28.
The original space rock traveled at nearly 9 miles per second before hitting Earth’s atmosphere and eventually landing on an alley at Winchcombe. Other pieces of the meteorite were recovered from the local area.
“Almost all meteorites come to us from asteroids, the remaining building blocks of the solar system that can tell us how planets like Earth came to be. The opportunity to be one of the first people to see and study a meteorite which was recovered almost immediately after falling is a dream come true! “said Ashley King, British researcher and future researcher in the field of innovation in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Museum.
Meteorites are much older than any rock on Earth. They typically travel for several thousand years in space before being captured – usually by the sun, but sometimes by the Earth, the museum said. As these cosmic objects travel through the atmosphere, they sometimes produce a brilliant fireball before landing on Earth, as was the case with this meteorite.
Other fragments of the meteorite – which could be found as black stones, piles of tiny rocks or even dust – could still be discovered, according to the museum.
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