This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/08/09/meteorite-that-crashed-through-metro-atlanta-home-analyzed-named-by-uga-researchers/
and if you wish to take away this text from our website please contact us
Editor’s observe: The movies above are from earlier protection.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A meteorite that crashed by a metro Atlanta residence in June is “older than the Earth itself,” in line with University of Georgia researchers.
On June 26, dazzled onlookers in metro Atlanta and throughout the Southeast witnessed a fireball streak throughout the daytime sky.
The blazing meteor, generally known as a bolide, hurtled towards McDonough sooner than the pace of sound.
The bolide slowed and shrank because it neared Earth’s floor, burning up and splitting into fragments.
“But a fast traveling rock the size of a cherry tomato is nothing to sneeze at,” UGA mentioned in a press launch.
One of the fragments tore by the roof of a McDonough residence. That fragment, labeled as a meteorite, ripped by the HVAC duct and left a dent within the flooring, making “a sound and vibration equivalent to a close-range gunshot.”
Do the distinction between a meteor, meteorite and meteoroid? A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic object touring by house. When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s ambiance and burns up, it’s a meteor. If it survives passing by the ambiance and lands on Earth’s floor, it’s a meteorite. Fun reality: A meteor is also called a taking pictures star.
The influence smashed the meteorite to items. Twenty-three grams of it – simply over half the mass of the recovered fragments – had been turned over to Scott Harris, a UGA planetary geologist and influence professional, to find out the meteorite’s origin and classification.
Harris and his colleagues named the “mysterious extraterrestrial visitor” the McDonough Meteorite; researchers say meteorites get their names from the ZIP code the place they had been discovered.
Harris discovered that the McDonough Meteorite is 4.56 billion years previous, which is older than 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 mentioned. “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.”
UGA researchers are working with colleagues at Arizona State University to submit their findings, together with the identify McDonough Meteorite, to the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society, which units tips for naming new meteorites.
The meteorite will likely be saved at UGA for additional evaluation. Other items that fell within the space on June 26 will likely be displayed publicly on the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, UGA mentioned.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Tellus Science Museum learning piece of meteor that fell in metro Atlanta
PHOTOS: Fragments from meteor present up in Henry County
Meteor blows up above Newton County, NASA says
Have meteorites landed in Georgia earlier than?
WATCH: ‘Fireball’ seen in Georgia, throughout the Southeast confirmed as meteor
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/08/09/meteorite-that-crashed-through-metro-atlanta-home-analyzed-named-by-uga-researchers/
and if you wish to take away this text from our website please contact us
