astro.wikisort.org - Meteorite

The Winchcombe meteorite is a meteorite that was observed entering the Earth's atmosphere as a fireball over Gloucestershire, England at 21:54 hours on 28 February 2021. Due to a public appeal, fragments were quickly recovered from the village of Winchcombe enabling it to be collected for analysis before becoming degraded.

Winchcombe
Type	Chondrite[1]
Class	Carbonaceous chondrite[1]
Group	CM2[1]
Country	England
Region	Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51.9512°N 1.9755°W / 51.9512; -1.9755[2]
Observed fall	Yes
Fall date	28 Feb 2021 GMT (UTC)
Found date	28 Feb - 1 Mar 2021 GMT (UTC)
TKW	602 grams (21.2 oz)

It is a 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.[3][4]

It was the first meteorite found in Britain since 1991.[5] Fragments of the meterorite were displayed at the London Natural History Museum on 17 May 2021.[6]

Observation

Images of the luminous meteoroid were captured by six camera networks of the UK Fireball Alliance, which is led by the Natural History Museum,[7] as well as on the doorbell cameras of private dwellings.[8] There were also over 1,000 eyewitness reports from the UK and elsewhere in Northern Europe, as well as a sonic boom heard in the local area.[1] These observations allowed its trajectory to be reconstructed. A public appeal was issued for fragments.[3]

Recovery

Subsequently a family found a pile of dark stones and powder on the driveway of their home in Winchcombe.[1] They had heard a sound at the time when the meteorite hit but did not investigate outside until the morning; upon discovering the fragments, they placed them in a bag and these were taken to London for analysis.[9] In total 319 grams (11.3 oz) of material was collected from their driveway and lawn.

In the following days further fragments were found nearby, including the largest single stone from the meteorite found on farmland and weighing 152 grams (5.4 oz), but this split in two during recovery. [1]

On 21 March, meteorite Hunter Chris Casey found a 12 grams (0.42 oz) half stone on a grass verge in Woodmancote. This was followed by another find of 17.5 grams (0.62 oz) on 23 March in Bishop’s Cleeve. On 25 March, Chris Casey and Luther Jackson found a 19.2 grams (0.68 oz) stone in Bishop’s Cleeve and on 1 April, Luther Jackson, while hunting with Chris Casey and Graham Ensor, found a fragmented 5.2 grams (0.18 oz) stone on a Bishops Cleeve footpath. [1]

The total amount recovered stands at 602 grams (21.2 oz), comprising hundreds of pieces.[1]

On 8 September 2021 local construction company Grimshaw Group removed the indented section of asphalt driveway where the meteorite landed and delivered the 1 square metre (11 sq ft) of material to London's Natural History Museum.[10]

Pieces of the Winchcombe Meteorite are now part of a display in the Winchcombe Museum, which tells the story of its origins, unexpected arrival and its scientific significance.[11]

Composition and classification

The meteorite is thought to be a carbonaceous chondrite, the first collected on impact in Britain.[12] The fragment did not experience rainfall[13] and was placed in a protected environment within 12 hours of falling to Earth, meaning that the quality of the sample is comparable to those retrieved by probes from asteroids.[14][4] It is of a similar type to that retrieved by the Hayabusa2 mission from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu.[4]

References

External links

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