hoi polloi around St Francis Bay in South Africa had an interesting morning last Sunday : between 8:30 and 9 am local clip , a bright bar was date illuminating the sky , with some multitude hearing a sonic boom and feel a shudder . At first , it was speculated to be a composition of space junk hang through the atmosphere – but scientist have correct the first reports . It was a space rock !
“ Based on scientific assessment , the incident is consistent with a rocky asteroid about the size of a auto entering Earth ’s ambiance at very high speed . rubbing with the atmosphere create a striking fireball and caused it to break up in flight , ” Professor Roger Gibson from the Wits University , said in astatement .
The last sentence this happened was more than 50 twelvemonth ago , with one falling over Lichtenburg in 1973 . Meteorites from this late event have already been found , with researcher enquire the public to keep an middle out for more .
“ meteorite are rare and hold deep scientific value as they give us a coup d’oeil of the make - up and birth of our solar arrangement , so it is extremely important for us to pass over , retrace and find possible meteorites that may have fall in our rural area . The way they interact with Earth ’s atmosphere is also important as they flummox a potential threat , ” Gibson explain .
Despite the size of the land , there are only 51 knownmeteoritesfrom South Africa and only 22 known meteorite falls . investigator would love to get as many sample as possible , and it seems like the pin orbit is very wide .
“ We have theme that someone has found several fragments of a meteorite near Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape , over 100 klick [ 62 international nautical mile ] from Cape St Francis . This may suggest an exceptional descent area , ” Gibson added .
“ Some people hear its sonic roar as far aside as Plettenberg bay – over 200 km [ 124 Swedish mile ] from Gqberha ; others feel ground tremors have by the transonic boom , or actually saw the shooting star . We would be extremely concerned to get a line from any witnesses of this outcome , ” Gibson continued . “ This is a unadulterated opportunity for people to become knotty in citizen scientific discipline . We want to know what people see or listen so that we can piece together the meteor ’s trajectory , and also if anyone think they have found any meteorite shard . We would like people to record their perception and contact us to tell their stories . ”
The crush statement contains email addresses for Gibson and one of the fellow he is working with , Dr Leo Vonopartis . Meteoritescan be confused with other rock’n’roll , but the benighted smooth appearance – because of the nuclear fusion reaction crust – often gives them away . Some meteorite are delicate , so if you suspect you found one , take your meter .
“ Before you relate it , photograph it on the ground and take several picture of its environment . Record a Global Positioning System pin of where you found it , wrap it into a piece of aluminium transparency and place it firmly in a zip - lock bag , then reach us to collect it . All of this provides full of life scientific info , ” explained Vonopartis .
