ATHENS, Ga. (WDNews) Scientists who examined the remnants of a meteorite that ripped through the roof of a Georgia home in June have determined that it is older than the Earth.
Before the fireball struck a house outside of Atlanta on June 26, residents in a number of Southern states reported seeing it sweep across the sky in broad daylight. The impact created a depression in the floor and punched a hole in the roof.
Scott Harris, a planetary geologist at the University of Georgia, reported on Friday that he had analyzed 23 grams, or around 0.8 ounces, of meteorite shards. The meteorite was about the size of a cherry tomato at the time of impact. According to his calculations, the space rock formed approximately 20 million years before the Earth, at 4.56 billion years ago.
“We now believe we can tie it to a breakup of a much larger asteroid about 470 million years ago,” Harris said in a statement, referring to a group of asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Georgia team intend to present their findings to the Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee. In honor of the city where it fell, they are suggesting that the rock be called the McDonough Meteorite.
