a metal body That opened a hole in the roof of a house in the center New Jersey This week, hit a hard floor and bounce around the room. It was a meteoriteexperts announced Thursday.
Scholars College of New Jersey Determine that the object is 15 x 10 cm, which weighs about a kilogram –984 grams Exactly-, it’s a rare stony chondrite meteorite with an estimated age 4.56 billion years old. They came to this conclusion after performing a visual inspection, densitometric measurements, and scanning electron microscopy images. Jerry Delaney Retired meteorite expert from Rutgers University and the American Museum of Natural History, assisted with these tasks and added that, based on these observations, it was most likely a meteorite Type LL-6.
This means that it contains, in its composition, less iron than most chondrites. He was able to determine, in turn, that he had been greatly transformed by a scorching heateven before entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
“The opportunity to examine the meteorite (on Wednesday) was rare and exciting for me, as well as a group of physics students and professors at TCNJ,” he said. Nathan MageeHead of the School’s Physics Department. “We are excited to be able to confirm that the object is a real chondrite meteorite, in excellent condition, and one of very few attested chondrite falls known to science.”
The family that owns the house discovered a rock the size of a black potato in a corner, still hot, around 12:30 p.m. Monday. Experts believe it hit the house shortly before it was found.
Police in the town of Hopewell, north of the state capital, Trenton, said no one was injured and there was no significant damage to the residence.
Derek Batessenior astronomer at the Franklin Institute, celebrated this episode and confirmed it The fact that it “fell into a house, and that people were able to pick it up, is really extraordinary and has happened many times in history.”.
The college announced that the object would likely take a name Based on the mailing address closest to where to find it and among the options already evaluated Titusville, NJ.
Susie Cobb, whose family owns the home, said they initially thought someone had thrown a rock into an upstairs room on Monday, but they soon realized that was not the case. He commented, “It seems that what came from heaven fell from the ceiling of the upper window of my father’s bedroom.” “I touched it because I thought it was a random rock and it was hot”.
In any case, Cobb commented that no one in his family was in the place at the time of the strike. “I thank God my dad wasn’t here, no one was there, we don’t get hurt, nothing,” he said.
Cobb said that hazardous materials officials came to his home to check on him and his family, in case they had been exposed to some kind of radioactive material, but all of these tests were negative.
(with information from the AP)
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