A meteorite that fell in Winchcombe, England, was contaminated with crumbs just hours after landing.
The Winchcombe meteorite broke up and fellon the Gloucestershire access road and nearby sheep field in February 2021 . It was quickly removed and placed in sealed containers shortly after landing. Thus, a fragment on the access road was found within a couple of hours, and the fragments in the field were searched for several days. But, according to new research, the meteorite has already begun to change due to interaction with the atmosphere and surface of the Earth.
"Winchcombe" is often described as a "pristine" examplechondritic meteorite and it has already helped scientists make several interesting discoveries. However, a new study has shown that “there is in fact no such thing as an intact meteorite,” explain the authors of the new study. Changes begin the moment he encounters the earth's atmosphere.
For the study, scientists used scanningelectron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. They identified tiny minerals on the surface of meteorites. They found calcium sulfate and calcite in a sample from a sheep field, and halite in a sample from a driveway.
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On the cover: Halite (common salt) crystals found on a fragment of a meteorite from the solar system, shortly after it fell to Earth.
Image credit: Meteoritics & Planetary Science/Jenkins et al