ATHENS, Ga. – A meteorite that streaked across the sky of the Southeast and ended up crashing into a Georgia home has now been studied by researchers at the University of Georgia.
The space debris, now known as the “McDonough Meteorite,” crashed through Earth’s atmosphere on June 26, creating a large fireball before damaging a home outside of Atlanta.
Scott Harris, a planetary geologist and impact expert with UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, examined fragments that were recovered from the scene and traced their composition to around 4.5 billion years ago – long before 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.”
SEE THE OBJECTS HUMANS LEFT BEHIND ON THE MOON
The incoming meteor quickly broke apart when it sailed through Earth’s atmosphere, with the largest piece that struck the Henry County home estimated to be the size of a cherry tomato.
Despite its small size, the meteorite was large enough to leave behind a hole in the roof, damage to HVAC ductwork and a significant dent in the wood floor.
No one was injured during the incident, but the impact was said to be as loud as a gunshot.
The UGA was granted access to study 23 grams of the 50 grams recovered from the home and is working in coordination with Arizona State University on further research.
According to the UGA, the event was the 27th meteorite that has been recovered in the Peach State.
“This is something that used to be expected once every few decades and not multiple times within 20 years,” Harris stated. “Modern technology in addition to an attentive public is going to help us recover more and more meteorites.”
DID THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPTURE A PHOTO OF BIGFOOT DURING A PENNSYLVANIA STORM SURVEY?
The latest update won’t be the final word on the McDonough Meteorite, as Harris and his team plan to publish a paper detailing the object’s composition and dynamics.
Additional recovered pieces of the meteorite are scheduled to go on display at the Tellus Science Museum near Atlanta.
The university did not state if the homeowner has completed repairs to his property, but damage caused by a meteorite usually falls under a standard insurance policy.
