by ATHENS, GA. (AP) — Scientists who studied pieces of the space rock have determined that a meteorite that struck a hole in a Georgia homeowner’s roof after blazing across the sky in a fiery streak is older than the Earth itself.
On June 26, people in a number of Southern states reported seeing the frenzied fireball speeding toward the ground faster than sound in plain daylight.
Scott Harris, a planetary geologist at the University of Georgia, said in a press statement on Friday that he had analyzed 23 grams (0.8 ounces) of meteorite pieces that were found in a cherry tomato-sized piece that hit a man’s roof like a bullet and caused a dent in the floor of the house outside of Atlanta.
Harris came to the conclusion that the meteorite formed 4.56 billion years ago after examining the bits under a microscope. The Earth is around 20 million years younger than that.
“We now believe we can tie it to a breakup of a much larger asteroid about 470 million years ago,” Harris said, referring to a group of asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
According to Harris, researchers from the University of Georgia and associates at Arizona State University intend to submit their research to the Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee. According to the name of the Georgia city where it fell to Earth, they suggest calling the space rock the McDonough Meteorite.
