In a major event for UK science, the meteorite that fell from the fireball
that lit up the sky over the UK and Northern Europe on Sunday 28 February, has
been found.
Almost 300g of a very rare meteorite, known as a carbonaceous chondrite,
survived its fiery passage through the Earth's atmosphere and landed on a
driveway in the small Cotswold town of Winchcombe. Other pieces of this
exceptional meteorite have now been recovered in the local area. Specialized
cameras across the country were able to recreate the flight path, allowing
scientists to determine exactly where in the solar system it came from, and
predict where it fell. The original space rock was traveling at nearly 14km
per second before hitting the Earth's atmosphere.
The meteorite was retrieved in such a good condition, so quickly after its
fall, that it is comparable to the samples returned from space missions,
both in quality and quantity.
Dr. Ashley King, UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellow in the
Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum, was among the
first on the scene when the meteorite was discovered on Wednesday and has
been advising on the handling and care of the meteorite since. He says:
"Nearly all meteorites come to us from asteroids, the leftover building
blocks of the solar system that can tell us how planets like the Earth
formed. The opportunity to be one of the first people to see and study a
meteorite that was recovered almost immediately after falling is a dream
come true!"
Dr. Katherine Joy, a Royal Society University research fellow at the
University of Manchester said: "This is a hugely exciting scientific event
as it is the first time in 30 years that a meteorite sample has fallen and
been recovered in the UK. Normally we have to send spacecraft to collect
bits of other worlds, but this time one has fallen right into our laps! We
look forward to using our laboratories in Manchester and working with our
colleagues to investigate how the newly recovered UK meteorite fall can
provide insights to how planets in the early Solar System were formed."
Dr. Richard Greenwood, Research Fellow in Planetary Sciences at the Open
University was the first scientist to identify and advise on the meteorite.
Dr. Greenwood says: "I was in shock when I saw it and immediately knew it
was a rare meteorite and a totally unique event. It's emotional being the
first one to confirm to the people standing in front of you that the thud
they heard on their driveway overnight is in fact the real thing."
Once the meteorite was identified as genuine, plans were made for it to be
safely moved to the Natural History Museum where it will be properly cared for
until it begins an official process of classification to establish its
validity and scientific significance.
A team of specialist scientists from across the UK have been successfully
searching the rest of the predicted fall area for more fragments including
colleagues from; The University of Glasgow, The University of Manchester,
The Open University, The University of Plymouth, and Imperial College
London.
There are approximately 65 thousand known meteorites on Earth. Only 1206
have been witnessed to fall and of these only 51 are carbonaceous
chondrites. This is the first known carbonaceous chondrite to have been
found in the UK, and the first meteorite recovered in the UK in 30 years.
The last meteorite that was discovered in the UK was the Glatton meteorite
that landed in a residential garden in 1991.
A victory for UK citizen science, the fireball was seen by thousands of
eyewitnesses across the UK and northern Europe, many of whom reported it to
the UK Meteor Observation Network, and was captured on many fireball cameras
and home surveillance cameras when it fell to Earth at 21:54 on Sunday 28
February.
Meteorites are incredibly old—their age of about 4567 million years is much
older than any rock from the Earth. Almost all these 'space rocks' have been
blasted off asteroids, and travel for many thousands of years through space
before being captured—usually by the Sun, but occasionally by Earth. They
travel through the atmosphere, sometimes—like the one that fell in
Gloucestershire—producing a bright fireball before landing on Earth. Over
1000 meteorites the size of a football are believed to fall to Earth every
year, however it is very rare for any of them to be seen to fall and
recovered.
Carbonaceous chondrites, like the one just discovered, are made of a mixture
of minerals and organic compounds—including amino acids. They are the most
primitive and pristine materials of the solar system and can provide unique
information on where water and the building blocks of life were formed and
what planets are made from—some of the biggest questions asked by the
scientific community.
The team believe that more fragments may yet be discovered. This fragile
meteorite may be found as black stones, or as piles of tiny rock or even
dust. If you are local to the area and find something that could be
meteorite, please be sure to take a photo of it and record its location,
before collecting the sample using a gloved hand or in aluminum foil and
contacting the Natural History Museum. However, please respect local
lockdown COVID-19 regulations.
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