On February 28th 2021 a bright fireball streaked across the night sky of the United Kingdom, depositing rocky fragments, known as meteorites, in Gloucestershire, England. After a member of the public came forward to report that some of this special space rock had landed on their property, an Open University scientist was quickly on the scene to collect the rare sample; the first UK meteorite in 30 years. The Open University has a long history of analysing rocks from space, whether they be from planets such as Mars, the Moon or asteroids and comets. Along with a team of scientists at organisations across the world, Open University scientists are involved with the analyses of the Winchcombe meteorite to find out where it came from and what it can tell us about the origin and history of the Solar System.
Image/ footage attribution and thanks to:
Video of fireball meteor CC BY-SA 4.0 from 28 February 2021 at 9:55PM: https://ukmeteornetwork.co.uk/
Meteorite in ice: © Katherine Joy / The University of Manchester https://ukantarcticmeteorites.wordpress.com/
Fireball trajectory: © Google Earth
Solar System schematic CC BY-SA 4.0: Universe Today
Asteroid collision animation: © NASA
Artist impression of Hayabusa2 CC BY-2.0: DLR German Aerospace Center on Flickr
OSIRIS-REx footage: © NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
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