“Rare 4.6 Billion Year Old Meteorite Smashes Through New Jersey Home”

• They were sitting at home in New Jersey
• A meteorite flew through their roof

The stone that flew through the roof of a house in New Jersey in the north-east of the USA this year is a rare meteorite approximately 4.6 billion years old. The confirmation came after a long investigation, which revealed that the space rock belongs to a class of meteorites known as chondrites.

Don’t miss: They found an object in space that defies physics. A bizarre star should not exist at all

An unusual object

An American family living in Hopewell Township in the US state of New Jersey experienced a real shock at the beginning of May when they discovered that an unknown piece of stone flew through their roof and into their bedroom.

Scientists believed that it could be a five-billion-year-old part of Halley’s comet, or that it is a fragment that was part of the Éta Aquarida meteorite swarm. A few weeks later, it’s finally clear. Nathan Magee, chair of the Department of Physics at the College of New Jersey (TCNJ), examined the stone and concluded that it is a very old (4.6 billion years) chondrite.

The stone is the size of a grapefruit. According to the AP agency, it measures approximately ten centimeters in width and fifteen in length. It has a weight of 1.8 kilograms. According to the family’s statement, the “scooter” first hit the bedroom floor, then bounced up to the ceiling and stopped in the corner of the room. “I touched the thing because I thought it was a normal stone. He was warm,” CBS News quoted Suzy Kopová as saying.

Rock, rock … who’s there?🪨

TCNJ physics professor Nate Magee confirmed today that the object that recently crashed landed into a home not far from campus is, indeed, from outer space.

Read more from the @AP: https://t.co/e2zbpQyEfk@tcnjscience #tcnj #tcnjiseverywhere pic.twitter.com/FMXH5YtEeU

— TCNJ (@TCNJ) May 11, 2023

Golden opportunity

Chondrites make up 85% of all meteorites found on Earth. These space rocks can be found all over the world, but it is very unusual for a meteorite – like this one – to hit a populated area; most chondrites have been discovered in more remote parts of the world, such as Antarctica.

Due to the age of the meteorite, scientists assume that it was created at the time when our solar system was forming. As such, it can therefore tell us a lot about how the universe was born.

Preview photo source: DilanArezzo / Pixabay, source: BGR, Live Science