A meteorite fell on February 14 on the balcony of a house on the outskirts of Matera, an ancient and picturesque stone town in southern Italy.
“This object, moving at a speed of around 322 km/h, was spotted in the sky over the Puglia and Basilicata regions on February 14, before falling on the balcony of the house of brothers Gianfranco and Pino Losignore . named “Valentine’s Day Fireball”Theo Guardian.
Meteorite fragment in Matera.
Meteorite fragment in Matera. (Photo: Gianfranco Lossignore/Guardian).
At first, the two brothers did not recognize the meteorite. The two men were checking their home’s solar panels when, three days later, they noticed that one panel was damaged and gray debris was scattered across the balcony.
“I wasn’t home when it happened, but my mother was in the basement at the time and heard a loud bang. She was worried but as it was a rather windy day she thought it might have been a tree branch. We didn’t expect it to be a meteorite.said Mr. Gianfranco.
To date, more than 70 grams of fragments have been collected for research purposes and will subsequently be exhibited at the museum. They will be analyzed in detail to determine their chemical composition and mineralogical characteristics in order to be used for the classification of meteorites. News Italy reported.
Carmelo Falco, representative of Prisma – a project managed by the Italian Institute of Astrophysics, said that although many meteorites hit the Earth, What is rare about the Matera incident is that the meteorite landed on a clean surface and was therefore not contaminated.. Additionally, it is also rare for meteorites to fall in areas where their fragments can be easily collected.
Describing the meteorite fragments, Mr Falco said it is very soft, sand-like and pure. “It’s almost like we collected it straight from space,” he said.
Domenico Bennardi, mayor of Matera, a town known for its cave houses carved out of limestone, said the discovery had aroused many emotions among the population.
“It’s amazing that pieces of rock from space have now fallen into the stone city”he said.
Article source: Zing
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A meteorite recently fell on the balcony of a house on the outskirts of Matera, a picturesque ancient stone town in southern Italy, on February 14…
