Winchcombe meteorite

Winchcombe
Fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite in the Natural History Museum, London
TypeChondrite[1]
ClassCarbonaceous chondrite[1]
GroupCM2[1]
CountryEngland
RegionGloucestershire
Coordinates51°57′04″N 1°58′32″W / 51.9512°N 1.9755°W / 51.9512; -1.9755[2]
Observed fallYes
Fall date28 Feb 2021 GMT (UTC)
Found date28 Feb – 1 Mar 2021 GMT (UTC)
TKW602 grams (21.2 oz)
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The Winchcombe meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that was observed entering the Earth's atmosphere as a fluorescent green fireball over Gloucestershire, England, at 21:54 on 28 February 2021. Due to a public appeal, fragments were quickly recovered from the village of Winchcombe, enabling it to be collected for analysis before becoming degraded.

It is a 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.[3][4]

It was the first meteorite found in Britain since 1991.[5] Fragments of the meterorite were displayed at the London Natural History Museum on 17 May 2021.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for Winchcombe". Meteoritical Society. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  2. ^ Port, Samuel (9 March 2021). "Tracking down the Winchcombe Meteorite that landed on driveway". Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Meteorites from sky fireball 'may have fallen near Cheltenham'". The Guardian. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  4. ^ "A team of UK scientists, guided by meteor specialists, have recovered pieces of an extremely rare meteorite, a type which has never fallen anywhere in the UK before". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Meteorite found in the Cotswolds is the first in the UK for 30 years". Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Winchcombe meteorite to go on public display". BBC News. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.