Current Affairs

Issue

The National History Museum will start displaying a part of the Winchcombe meteorite that stuck the town in February 2021.

 

Details

• Meteoroids can be defined as objects present in space that can range from dust grains to small asteroids.

• These meteoroids will be called meteors after they enter into Earth’s atmosphere. It will be called meteorite if meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground.

 

Discovery of the meteorite

• The discovered meteorite is black in colour and resembles a block of coal. It was discovered by researchers of University of Glasgow.

• The meteor shower was visible sometime during February and many people were able to see it. It was also captured in car dash and doorbell cameras.

 

Significance

• The meteorite belongs to the period during the birth of Solar System. Studying it will provide valuable information regarding the birth and origin of Solar System, including the Earth.

• The Winchcombe is famous as it is the only meteorite that has fallen and obtained from UK in the last 30 years.

• The meteorite belongs to a class called Carbonaceous that is very rare and constitutes only 1,000 of every 65,000 samples.