Residents of this province, the Western Cape and the Free State reported seeing a bright blue-white and orange streak of light in the sky
South African scientists today unveiled a fragment of a motorcycle-sized meteorite that fell last month in a town in the Eastern Cape province.
Residents of that province, as well as the Western Cape and the Free State, reported seeing a bright blue-white and orange streak of light in the sky on August 25. The “lightning” was accompanied by an explosion and tremors, scientists said.
An asteroid entered the atmosphere over South Africa yesterday, scattering meteorite fragments pic.twitter.com/8A8ITsbjW9
— THE PRESIDENT OF 🌟👨🏻💼_ CONSERVATISM GL🌐BAL (@1PeterPanMF2022) August 28, 2024
The rare fragment, which is black and shiny on the outside with a light gray cement-like interior, weighs less than 90 grams and is no more than 5 centimeters in diameter. They are provisionally calling it the “Kweba Meteorite”, after the city where it was found.
“Its friction with the atmosphere created a spectacular fireball and resulted in it breaking up,” Roger Gibson, a professor at the Witwatersrand University of Geosciences, told a news conference.
9-year-old Elise de Toit, sitting on the porch of her grandparents’ house in Ngueba, saw a dark stone fall from the sky. She picked it up and gave it to her mother, who later handed it over to the scientists. “I heard a hum. And then I saw the stone falling from the sky and I went and picked it up. She was still warm,” said little Elise.
Source :Skai
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