1P Halley—Halley’s Comet—which may be the source of the meteorite found this week in a New Jersey … [+]
A suspected meteorite that struck a house in New Jersey on May 8 may have originated from the Eta Aquariids meteor shower, which is caused by Halley’s comet.
As reported on the website of Hopewell Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, the oblong metallic object—about 6 inches by 4 inches and weighing 4 lbs.—came through the roof and ceiling to hit a hardwood floor. The incident happened when the home was occupied, but no injuries were reported. A family member touched the rock and said it was warm.
Meteorites are rocks of extra-terrestrial origin that pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and reach the surface at least partly intact.
Hopewell Police Department contacted other agencies for assistance in identifying the object, which may be related to the current Eta Aquariids meteor shower.
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaked this year overnight on May 5-6, though “shooting stars” are common for weeks before and after the peak. The shower is active from mid-April through late May each year.
This particular meteorite—if that’s what it’s proven to be—likely wasn’t left in the inner solar system during Halley’s comet’s last journey close to the Sun in 1986. According to Space.com the current Eta Aquarids meteor shower is the result of Earth busting through debris leftover from its perihelion in the year 390 BC.
“For it to actually strike a house, for people to be able to pick up, that’s really unusual and has happened very few times in history,” said Derrick Pitts, the chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute, to KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
On November 30, 1954 a similar-sized meteorite crashed through the roof of a farmhouse in Alabama, hitting a sleeping 34-year-old woman.
Every year there are now almost two reports of meteorite falls that directly hit human beings or their belongings, according to FOLLOW us ON GOOGLE NEWS
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