Posted on 03/09/2021 8:55:47 AM PST by BenLurkin
The meteorite has had British scientists in raptures of joy.
It's a carbonaceous chondrite - a dark stony material that retains unaltered chemistry from the formation of our Solar System 4.6 billion years ago, and, as such, could give us fresh insights on how the planets came into being.
The first thing the Wilcock family knew about it was when they heard a dull thud outside their house on the night of Sunday 28 February.
Scientists knew fragments of a meteorite must be in the Gloucestershire area. Their cameras had recorded the rock coming through the atmosphere that Sunday night, creating a huge fireball in the process.
Imagery from multiple angles allowed researchers to narrow the drop zone, and when they went on the media to make an appeal on the Monday, they hoped one or two people might come forward with an interesting find.
The family have donated the meteorite remains to the national collection held by the Natural History Museum in London. They were determined the rock should not go to a dealer, but to science.
The last meteorite fall to be picked up in the UK was 30 years ago. That was an "ordinary chondrite" - a common type of space rock.
The Winchcombe meteorite is far more valuable. Studying its chemistry - and what it can tell us about the conditions that went into building the planets - will keep scientists busy for years.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Carrying coals to Newcastle........................
Good start to an alien science fiction movie....
Oh....they cleaned their charcoal barbecue.
“They were determined the rock should not go to a dealer, but to science.”
The universe gifts you something like that, and you give it away to someone who will catalog it and never look at it again.
See if god sends you a gold nugget in your garden, ingrate.
If you wanna give it to science, then maybe see this as a teachable moment for the university. Tell them you will happily sell it to them. Teach them about the free market.
They wanted to be “Carbon Neutral”.....................
Analysis disclosed traces of asphalt.
Joe Dirt thought he had a meteorite too.
Please explain to the World just how you know a rock is 4.6 billion years old?
You might think that but thinking is Not Science....
Don't they measure the decay of radioactive substances, then compare what is present with what was the original content?
This thing fell how many miles and didn’t even make a dent in the Earth?
If it was that soft, it would have disintegrated before it hit the Earth.
If it was hard enough to make it through the atmosphere, it would have at least left a mark on the Earth.
In other words, I don’t think it was a meteorite.
And a Mayfair cigarette butt.
Oh no, now we must launch a hunk of carbon into space to remain “carbon neutral”...
Manna from heaven.
And it tastes like chicken.
I wonder if any of these people are smart enough to laugh at the bullsh*t they write.
ML/NJ
Nobody is smarter than FReepers.
In England, metal detectorists must announce any find that they dig up. If it is worthy of a museum or science they will get a fair price for whatever they find. If it is just some “common” Roman coins or gold artifacts they can keep it.
I wonder if the same goes for meteorites? I would hope so.
Good question. They are pretty weak on property rights.
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