Meteorite recognized after crashing into Georgia dwelling

Dashcam footage reveals a meteor streaking throughout a transparent blue sky over Anderson, South Carolina, on Thursday. 

ATHENS, Ga. – A meteorite that streaked throughout the sky of the Southeast and ended up crashing right into a Georgia dwelling has now been studied by researchers on the University of Georgia.

The house particles, now often known as the “McDonough Meteorite,” crashed by way of Earth’s environment on June 26, creating a big fireball earlier than damaging a house outdoors of Atlanta.

Scott Harris, a planetary geologist and influence knowledgeable with UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, examined fragments that have been recovered from the scene and traced their composition to round 4.5 billion years in the past – lengthy earlier than the formation of Earth. 

“It belongs to a group of asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that we now think we can tie to a breakup of a much larger asteroid about 470 million years ago,” Harris told the university’s news service. “But in that breakup, some pieces get into Earth-crossing orbits, and if given long enough, their orbit around the sun and Earth’s orbit around the sun end up being at the same place, at the same moment in time.”

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The incoming meteor rapidly broke aside when it sailed by way of Earth’s environment, with the most important piece that struck the Henry County dwelling estimated to be the scale of a cherry tomato.

Despite its small dimension, the meteorite was massive sufficient to go away behind a gap within the roof, injury to HVAC ductwork and a major dent within the wooden ground.

No one was injured in the course of the incident, however the influence was stated to be as loud as a gunshot. 

The UGA was granted entry to review 23 grams of the 50 grams recovered from the house and is working in coordination with Arizona State University on additional analysis.

According to the UGA, the occasion was the twenty seventh meteorite that has been recovered within the Peach State.

“This is something that used to be expected once every few decades and not multiple times within 20 years,” Harris said. “Modern technology in addition to an attentive public is going to help us recover more and more meteorites.”

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The newest replace gained’t be the ultimate phrase on the McDonough Meteorite, as Harris and his group plan to publish a paper detailing the article’s composition and dynamics.

Additional recovered items of the meteorite are scheduled to go on show on the Tellus Science Museum close to Atlanta.

The college didn’t state if the home-owner has accomplished repairs to his property, however injury brought on by a meteorite often falls beneath a regular insurance coverage coverage.