Stunning Meteor "Fireball" Deposits A 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Rock In Costa Rica

By - 392 words

Language

Reading Level

Listen to Article

Costa Ricans witnessed a beautiful fireball on April 23, 2019 (Credit: Marietta Davis/Twitter video screen capture)

Meteor showers, which happen when our planet traverses through debris streams left behind by passing comets, are a fairly common occurrence. While the tiny rocks usually burn up when they collide with our atmosphere, resulting in what we call "shooting stars," every so often one manages to survive the impact and land on Earth. That is precisely what appears to have happened in Costa Rica recently.

On April 23, 2019, at 9:09 pm local time, residents of San Carlos in Costa Rica's Alajuela Province heard a loud noise, which was followed by a massive "fireball" streaking across the skies. Photos and videos of the stunning bright flashes soon went viral, with hundreds of residents reporting on the incident.

A piece of the meteor from the meteor fell into a house in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica (Credit: CEN@UCR)

As it turned out, the exploding meteor did not totally disintegrate as expected. One small piece managed to survive the journey through our atmosphere and land in a house in the Aguas Zarcas district of San Carlos. The homeowner discovered the still-warm meteorite, which had created a hole in her roof, when she went to investigate the origin of a loud rumble from the back of her house. Scientists from the Central American School of Geology at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), who examined the space debris using special equipment, confirmed that the 2.36-pound (1,071-gram) rock was “a chondritic stone meteorite, composed mainly of silicon, iron, and magnesium."

Though more analysis needs to be done, initial tests seem to indicate the rock, dubbed "Meteorito de Aguas Zarcas,” is 4.5 billion years old. Experts suspect it may be the debris of Comet Thatcher, the source of the Lyrid meteor showers, which peaked on April 22 and April 23 this year. However, the geologists still need to perform chemical tests to confirm that theory.

CEN geologists believe the rock is 4,560 million years old. (Credit: CEN @ UCR)

Regardless of where it came from, the UCR team is thrilled at this rare opportunity to closely investigate a meteorite. The geologists say, “The Aguas Zarcas event is an extraordinary find and of great scientific interest at a national and international level that transcends any possible economic value that may be assigned to the fragments." They assert that the discovery is important “for the study of the age and composition of the Solar System, as well as to understand the genesis of particles of organic origin that later allowed the development and evolution of life on the planet.”

Resources: mailonline.com,sputniknews.com,ticotimes.net

Workbook

Get the Workbook for this article!

Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)
Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
521 Comments
  • Marvel fanover 5 years
    I wish i was there.
    • Marvel fanover 5 years
      Thats amazing!!!!
      • wweforeverover 5 years
        this is incredible
        • solestar13
          solestar13over 5 years
          i feel bad for the girl who had to rebuild the part of her house:(
          • wolfdog
            wolfdogabout 5 years
            Yeah, but then she can say ''I'm rebuilding my house because a meteorite just smashed into my roof!" :)
          • jamesonover 5 years
            thats awsome
            • chocoman
              chocomanover 5 years
              Yikes!
              • asdfover 5 years
                how did it survive the crash??!!!
                • yojeffddtsfwf
                  yojeffddtsfwfover 5 years
                  So cool
                  • Aurriannaover 5 years
                    So cool 😎
                    • Parisover 5 years
                      That was really interesting and scary when that meteor fell in the girl’s house and left a hole. Good thing she wasn’t in the garage at that time it happened!!!!!!!!