Meteorite Crashed In Atlanta House Said To Be Older Than Earth

McDonough Meteorite sounded like a "close-range gunshot" when it landed, according to University of Georgia researchers. According to academics at the University of Georgia, a fragment of space rock that collided with a house in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this year is thought to be more than four and a half billion years old.  'McDonough Meteorite' is the name given in honor of the Henry County city of the same name. On June 26, the space rock made a crash landing in this area.

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Later, a UGA planetary geologist and impact specialist received the pieces that ripped through the residential roof in order to learn important details about their origin and classification. The specific meteor that entered the planet's atmosphere has a "long history before it made it to the ground of McDonough, and in order to totally understand that, we actually have to examine what the rock is and determine what group of asteroids it belongs to," according to Scott Harris, a researcher in the UGA Geology Department.

Harris said it was helpful to know how much the Earth could withstand a much larger approaching space object, even though the parts that fell were smaller. Once meteorites penetrate the atmosphere, they can move faster than sound, according to scientists. Our atmosphere does a great job of slowing them down when they come into contact with Earth.  

However, you're talking about something that travels at least one kilometer per second and is twice as large as a 50-caliber shell. In a statement, Harris compared it to sprinting ten football fields in a single second. It sounded like a "close-range gunshot" when the McDonough Meteorite landed, according to researchers. At the time, it dented the floor after crashing through an HVAC duct and a house's roof. They further mentioned that the property's owner still finds space dust in his living room. 

According to Harris, the individual heard three sounds at once: a collision with the roof, a tiny cone of a sonic boom, and the final sound as it struck the floor.  Harris claimed that everything occurred in the "same moment."  "When it struck the floor, there was enough energy that it crushed some of the material into actual dust particles," he continued.

Of the 50 grams of space rock found on the property, 23 were given to the University of Georgia academics for study. The low-metal ordinary chondrite is 20 million years older than the Earth, with an estimated age of 4.56 billion years.  "We now think we can tie to a breakup of a much larger asteroid about 470 million years ago," Harris said, referring to the "group of asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter."

FAQs  

Q. When did McDonough Meteorite become the name of the space rock?  

A. In honor of the namesake city in Henry County, where it first touched down in June, this was done.  

Q. What is Earth's age? 

A. The age of the Earth is almost 4.54 billion years. 

Q. Where is the place for McDonough Meteorite?  

A. A "group of asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter" is thought to be the source by researchers.

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