JOHANNESBURG – Experts from three major South African universities have gathered to discuss a meteorite that pierced through the Earth’s atmosphere in the Eastern Cape at the end of August.
The bike-sized meteorite landed in the Eastern Cape just before 9am on 25 August, and although not the first of its kind, the phenomenon garnered great public interest.
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Experts believe the bolide rock could be from the parent body of an achrondite. If this is confirmed, which can only be done on a microscopic scale, it means the meteorite that stunned social media may have formed millions of years after the formation of our solar system.
Estimated to be around 1.5 meters in diameter, with an energy release equivalent to 92 tons of TnT, the bolide rock, which was travelling at 20.1 km/s, made its presence felt at an altitude of 38km.
A bolide is a special type of fireball that explodes in a bright terminal flash that is often fragmented. A fireball, on the other hand, is a very bright meteor, while a meteor is a brief light streak caused by a piece of space debris burning up in the atmosphere.
It travelled approximately 50km, from west to north, in 2.8 seconds.
In totality, the event took 49 seconds before slowing down and making impact with water between Gqeberha and George, causing boom-like sounds.
EWN
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