The yellow-green fireball that pierced the earth’s atmosphere on Sunday night and delighted observers from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands presumably partially survived the journey in the form of meteorites and probably landed just north of Cheltenham.
Fireballs are extremely bright meteors – space matter that burns as it enters the earth’s atmosphere. All that is left of it when it reaches the surface of the earth is known as a meteorite. This is especially important for scientists, as they can provide important clues about the history of the solar system.
Richard Kacerek, founder of the British Meteorological Network, a group of amateur astronomers who have been using cameras since 2012 to record observations in the UK, said computer modeling suggested the meteor was likely to be just north of Gloucestershire. .
Approximately 50 tons of extraterrestrial matter enter the Earth’s atmosphere annually, mainly in the form of sand-sized particles called space dust. In the UK, about 20 meteorites – barely the size of sugar cubes – will land annually. The last meteorite fall was in 1991 in the town of Glatton near Peterborough.
In the past, brighter fireballs have been seen, Kacerek said. “What makes this particular fireball really special is that we think something really survived.”
Ashley King, of the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement: “The video recordings tell us that the speed was about 30,000 km / h, which is too fast to ‘space junk’ of humans. to make, so it’s not an old rocket or satellite.
‘The videos also enabled us to reconstruct the original orbit around the sun. In this case, the orbit was like that of an asteroid. This piece of asteroid spent most of its orbit between Mars and Jupiter, but sometimes came closer to the sun than the earth is. ‘
The observers concluded that smaller than golf ball-sized pieces of dark-colored fragmented rock would be found, Kacerek said, adding that it was still unclear to which comet the meteor belonged. .
“We have already received a few emails from people in the area saying that they find something interesting,” he added, pointing out that scientists from the Natural History Museum had yet to confirm the observation.
When people encounter pieces of meteorite, scientists have said that they should first photograph them in their place and record the location using their GPS’s GPS, but avoid it immediately. Meteorites are usually rich in iron, but using a magnet can damage the sample – Kacerek suggested picking it up with a clean plastic bag.
The British public must remember that the lock was still in place, and that people should not place restrictions on searching for meteorites, he warns.
One of the biggest attractions of meteorite research is a theory called panspermia: that the chemistry of life exists in space.
Astronomical research has found the building blocks of life in the atmosphere of distant planets and interstellar clouds, and even more complex connections in meteorites. Since life on Earth began at least 3.8 billion years ago and the leap from organic chemistry to self-replicating organisms is so great, some astronomers suggest that life may have been through a passing comet.
“It’s definitely a theory, but I think it’s a very likely theory,” Kacerek said. ‘We do not know much about it [the meteor from Sunday] train. But definitely … setting up a meteor camera, capturing the meteorite and then picking it up will help answer the questions. “
On Sunday night, Kacerek’s three cameras did not detect the fireball. “But when I saw the pictures, I said, ‘Holy …’ I knew what that meant, ‘he said. “Because it meant … that I had to get up at 6 o’clock and talk to the media all day.”