Amazing Moment Asteroid explodes over the English Channel while hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere
An asteroid lit up the skies over the English Channel after entering Earth’s atmosphere in the early hours of the morning.
The 3-foot meteorite produced a shooting star and “airburst” that could be seen across southern England and Wales and parts of northern France as far north as Paris.
The rock, designated Sar2667, entered the atmosphere at 3 a.m. about two miles off the coast of France, creating a fireball as it disintegrated into harmless pieces.
It was only the seventh time an asteroid impact had been successfully predicted, which the European Space Agency said was “a sign of rapid advances in global asteroid detection capabilities.”
The 3ft rock created a shooting star and an “airburst” that could be seen across southern England and Wales and parts of northern France as far north as Paris
The asteroid, designated Sar2667, entered the atmosphere at 3 a.m. about two miles off the French coast and produced a fireball as it disintegrated
It comes as research on the first meteorite found on British soil in 30 years has shown how quickly space rock is being contaminated by Earth’s atmosphere.
The meteorite landed in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire last February, with fragments being recovered from a driveway hours after it entered Earth’s atmosphere.
More pieces were found in a sheep field six days later.
Analysis of the meteorite shows that the fragments rapidly evolved salts and minerals through the interaction of their surfaces with the humid environment in which they landed.
The findings could help protect new meteorites once they are found.
Lead author Laura Jenkins, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, said once meteorites are exposed to terrestrial pollutants, they change.
A view of a small asteroid flying through Earth’s atmosphere in Brighton this morning
She said: “Analysis of meteorites can provide insight into the asteroids they came from and how they formed.
“Winchcombe and other meteorites like this one contain extraterrestrial water and organic matter, and the asteroids that deliver them may be responsible for delivering water to Earth and giving it enough water to form its signature oceans.”
“However, when a meteorite is exposed to terrestrial pollutants, especially moisture and oxygen, it undergoes changes that affect the information it provides.”
Researchers examined two small pieces of Winchcombe for signs of terrestrial change.
They examined the surfaces of the samples using scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
One sample was taken from the fragments of the driveway and the other from those found in the sheep field.
They found that two forms of salt – calcium sulfate and calcite – had formed on the fusion crust of samples collected from the sheep field.
Explained: The difference between an asteroid, meteorite and other space rocks
An asteroid is a large boulder left over from collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt.
A comet is a rock covered with ice, methane, and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further out of the solar system.
Astronomers call a meteor a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up.
This debris itself is called a meteoroid. Most are so small that they evaporate in the atmosphere.
When one of these meteoroids makes it to Earth, it’s called a meteorite.
Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites usually come from asteroids and comets.
For example, when Earth passes the tail of a comet, much of the debris in the atmosphere burns up, forming a meteor shower.