A peculiar rocky meteoroid that exploded last year above Canada is more spectacular than it first appeared to be. More intriguing is that the cosmic feature originates from the outer Solar System, based on scientific research.
By studying more data, researchers have determined that the meteoroid broke apart like a rocky object, surviving deeper into Earth’s atmosphere than icy objects on similar trajectories. What does this really mean?
Discover the full story below and learn more about the rocky meteoroid.
The Curious Case of the Rocky Meteoroid
The rocky meteoroid that exploded over Canada back in 2021 is quite controversial. Further analysis suggested that the meteoroid came from the Oort Cloud, far beyond Pluto. What does this mean?
The importance of discovering a rocky body from that region could rewrite existing theories of how the solar system formed. Quite spectacular, isn’t it?!
Denis Vida, a meteor physis specialist at Western University in Canada, explains:
This discovery supports an entirely different model of the formation of the solar system, one which backs the idea that significant amounts of rocky material co-exist with icy objects within the Oort Cloud; it’s a complete game changer.
Although rocky fireballs have been seen before, they have always come from sources that are far closer to our planet. However, in our case, the meteoroid has traveled great distances, which is entirely unexpected.
But even curious is the fact that the Oort Cloud has long been thought to be made up only of frozen items.
Using cameras from Australia’s Global Fireball Observatory (GFO), the University of Alberta captured the intriguing rocky meteoroid, which was the size of a grapefruit and weighed 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds), as per estimations by Western academics via Global Meteor Network technologies.
As a result, it was discovered that the meteoroid was in an orbit that is typically only taken by icy, long-period comets from the Oort Cloud. More research is indeed needed, so more details will be soon available!