The alley where the Winchcombe meteorite crashed will be on display

by



[ad_1]

A piece of the driveway where an ‘extremely rare’ meteorite crashed worth £ 100,000 will be on display at the Natural History Museum along with the space rock.

The meteorite fell to Earth in a fireball seen from across the UK, followed by doorbell cameras, eventually landing in the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe in February.

It was the first time a meteorite hit the ground and had been recovered in the UK for over 30 years, with pieces spread across Gloucestershire, including in an alley.

This piece was donated to the Natural History Museum, which says it is an unusual type of CM2 carbonaceous chondrite of space rock containing organic chemicals.

Hannah Wilcock, 25, and her parents Rob and Cathryn were stunned to learn that the ‘lumps of coal’ on their way through the Cotswolds was a 4.6 billion year old meteorite.

It left a residue, and that piece of tarmac it landed on has been removed from the driveway and will also be on display at the Natural History Museum in London.

Hannah Wilcock, 25, and her parents Rob and Cathryn were amazed to learn that the

Hannah Wilcock, 25, and her parents Rob and Cathryn were stunned to learn that the ‘lumps of coal’ on their way through the Cotswolds was a 4.6 billion year old meteorite

The meteorite fell to Earth in a fireball seen from across the UK, followed by doorbell cameras, eventually landing in the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe in February

The meteorite fell to Earth in a fireball seen from across the UK, followed by doorbell cameras, eventually landing in the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe in February

The family thought someone threw lumps of coal in their driveway

A family who had a meteorite outside their Cotswold home said they thought someone had emptied a barbecue on their way when they saw the rocks.

Hannah Wilcock, 25, and her parents Rob and Cathryn were stunned to learn that the ‘lumps of coal’ they heard on their way on the night of February 28 were in fact fragments of a Meteorite 4.6 billion years old.

Weighing around 300g in total, the meteorite pierced the sky and crashed into their driveway in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, placing the family at the center of a major scientific discovery.

The meteorite is one of the most valuable space rocks to ever fall on the UK and metal detectors have scoured fields in Gloucestershire over the past month.

Still, Cathryn had other, more plausible theories, believing that the dark spots in their driveway were part of a barbecue that had been thrown out after the hot weather.

Hannah said she was inside her parents’ house when she heard a thud.

She told the BBC: “When I heard it fall I got up and looked out the window to see what was there.

“But because it was dark, I couldn’t see anything. It wasn’t until the next morning when we got out that we saw it on the driveway – kind of like a splash.

“And in all fairness my initial thought was, has anyone driven in the Cotswolds throwing lumps of coal into people’s backyards?”

The meteorite was removed soon after it landed, as scientists were eager to study it in more detail, however, the “mini-crater” in the drive was also fascinated.

This section has been protected for the past six months by a wooden siding panel, and a car has been placed over it when the weather was bad at the start of the year.

The Natural History Museum has already exhibited fragments of the meteorite, but believes the tarmac will enhance the attraction.

A local construction company was used to remove the section of the driveway by cutting around the crater and covering the tarmac with planks and steel and using jacks to push a 10-square-foot slice onto a pallet.

Owner Cathryn Wilcock told the BBC: “It’s like one of my cakes, hoping it comes out of the box in one piece” as they were halfway there.

Rob Wilcock added: “I’m happy in a way, but I’m also a little nostalgic because we’ve gotten used to it being there.

“It’s something that changed our lives and put us in touch with a lot of really interesting people. And, of course, that really put Winchcombe on the map. It is one of the most important things that has ever happened in this city.

Although there is now a large hole in the aisle, the family have no plans to just replace the tarmac, but have ordered a plaque there instead.

The rock is a “Mighei-type” meteorite, related to a type found in Ukraine at the end of the 19th century, which is among the oldest and most primitive available for study.

Natural History Museum researcher Dr Ashley King said they formed early in the solar system and are “like time capsules.”

“They tell us about the building blocks of our solar system,” Dr King told the BBC World Service’s Science In Action program.

“Obviously we weren’t there 4.6 billion years ago, and these meteorites are a way for us to actually see what kind of material there was and how those materials started to come together. to form the planets. ”

The meteorite was removed soon after it landed, as scientists were eager to study it in more detail, however, the

The meteorite was removed soon after it landed, as scientists were eager to study it in more detail, however, the “mini-crater” in the drive was also fascinated.

This piece was donated to the Natural History Museum, which says it is an unusual type of CM2 carbonaceous chondrite of space rock containing organic chemicals.

This piece was donated to the Natural History Museum, which says it is an unusual type of CM2 carbonaceous chondrite of space rock containing organic chemicals.

Never found before in the UK, these often contain organic compounds – providing clues to the building blocks of life in space and to the makeup of the planets.

Astronomers say the meteorite plunged into Earth’s orbit at around 31,000 mph – 40 times the speed of sound – before burning and dramatically shattering into small pieces.

But unlike most shooting stars, this meteorite was large enough that some pieces survived entry into the atmosphere when it passed through Gloucestershire at 9:54 p.m. on February 28.

Although there is now a large hole in the aisle, the family have no plans to just replace the tarmac, and have instead ordered a plaque to go to the place

Although there is now a large hole in the aisle, the family have no plans to just replace the tarmac, and have instead ordered a plaque to go to the place

Rob Wilcock added: "I'm happy in a way that it's happening but I'm also a little nostalgic because we got used to him being there '

Rob Wilcock added: “I’m happy in a way, but I’m also a bit nostalgic because we’ve gotten used to it being there”

Very little survived the dramatic crash landing, leaving a few pounds of material to fall to Earth at Winchcombe.

All of the meteorite pieces found in the city have now been transferred to the Natural History Museum, and researchers say they could provide insight into how life on Earth began.

They contain evidence of water in the rock’s atomic signatures, which may be similar to water found on Earth. Further testing is needed to confirm this.

Sara Russell, a meteorite researcher at the Natural History Museum, described the discovery of the meteorite as a “once in a lifetime event”.

Explained: The difference between an asteroid, a meteorite and other space rocks

a asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the start of the solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the main belt.

A comet is a rock covered with ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits move them much further away from the solar system.

A meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns.

This debris itself is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small that they vaporize in the atmosphere.

If any of these meteorites land on Earth, it is called a meteorite.

Meteors, meteorites, and meteorites normally originate from asteroids and comets.

For example, if Earth passes through the tail of a comet, much of the debris burns in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.

[ad_2]

Source link