Briton claims she found space rock
March 5th, 2012 - 10:45 pm ICT by IANSLondon, March 5 (IANS) A florist in Britain has claimed to have found a space rock which streaked across the night sky in a spectacular meteor shower on the weekend.
Joanne Pain, 43, found the melon-sized black rock in fields near her home in Redcar, Cleveland, while taking her dog for a walk, the Daily Mail reported Monday. The rock does appear to fit the description of other meteorites which have hit the earth.
Experts are currently trying to establish if this could be the meteorite, or a fragment of it.
Many of them are tiny - about the size of a pea - even though they can generate incredible brightness when they are subjected to the astonishing heat of penetrating the earth’s atmosphere. Once they finally hit the ground, the meteorite is likely to appear scorched, and could be almost any shape.
Thousands of stargazers witnessed a spectacular meteor shower around 9.40 p.m. Sunday. The brilliant display entranced watchers at several locations across England.
While it first appeared about 240 km above Scotland, the fist-sized chunk of rock descended to an altitude of about 128 km above Birmingham and Oxfordshire.
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Tags: altitude, atmosphere, briton, daily mail, earth, fist, florist, fragment, joanne, london march, meteorite, meteorites, night sky, oxfordshire, redcar cleveland, scotland, shape, sized chunk, space rock, spectacular meteor shower