Jakarta –
Scientists found a meteorite from space rock weighing almost 500 kg. These fragments came from a meteor that exploded in the sky over Texas on February 15.
At any given moment, Earth is bombarded by pieces of organic space debris known as meteoroids. Fortunately, most meteoroids are small, and usually pose no threat to the planet or life on it.
But on February 15, a much larger meteoroid hit Earth’s atmosphere, and its fragments rained down on Texas. NASA’s Johnson Space Center confirmed the event.
In NASA’s records, the meteoroid was probably about 60 cm in size and weighed about 454 kilograms when it entered the atmosphere.
The event occurred in the sky over McAllen, Texas, a city about 96 km west of Brownsville along the Mexican border.
At around 5:30 p.m. CST (2330 GMT/0630 GMT) on February 15, local authorities received reports of a loud explosion, and Houston Air Traffic Control received reports of meteor crashes from two planes, according to Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra.
The following day, NASA issued its statement confirming the event. The meteoroid traveled at 43,452 kmh and exploded with a force equivalent to 8 tons of TNT at an altitude of about 34 km. By comparison, the largest non-nuclear warhead ever detonated by the US military, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, exploded with a force of 11 tons of TNT.
Quoted from Space.com, Tuesday (28/2/2023) most meteors burn up before their fragments reach the surface. However, the 15 February meteor also produced several meteorites (shards of space rock that reached the ground).
The American Meteor Society confirmed that planetary science researcher and meteorite hunter Robert Ward found the first meteorite from the event near El Sauz, Texas.
The event marks the third major meteor event in three consecutive days in February. On February 13, a meter-high asteroid lit up the night sky over France and England, then on February 14, a fireball crossed the skies of southern Italy.
NASA notes that once on the ground, meteorites cool quickly and generally pose no risk to humans. NASA is advising US citizens who find a suspected meteorite to report it to the Smithsonian Institution, which maintains the US national meteorite collection.
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(rns/fay)
