In news- A piece of the Winchcombe meteorite that fell in the town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire in the UK in February 2021 is set to be displayed at the National History Museum.
About the meteorite-
- The piece of meteorite is a 103 gram fragment of black rock resembling coal.
- It dates back to the birth of the solar system nearly 4.5 billion years ago.
- Examining it may offer scientists and researchers clues about the beginning of the solar system and maybe even the Earth.
- Winchcombe is also significant because it is the meteorite to have fallen and recovered from the UK in about 30 years.
- This type of meteorite is known as a carbonaceous meteorite.
- Out of about 65,000 known meteorite types, only about 1,000 are of this particular type.
- Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
- When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere they are called meteors.
If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.
Source: IE
