The Hamilton meteorite that landed on a Canadian resident's pillow came from the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter

By: Maksim Panasovskyi | 30.11.2023, 00:42
The Hamilton meteorite that landed on a Canadian resident's pillow came from the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter

Scientists have identified the origin of a meteorite that fell on the pillow of Canadian resident Ruth Hamilton more than two years ago. As it turned out, it is a simple chondrite.

Here's What We Know

The incident occurred on 3 October 2021. The meteorite broke through the roof of a private house and fell on the pillow of the mistress. Fortunately, no one was injured. The brightly coloured bolide was recorded in the sky near the border of the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

The meteorite entered the Earth's atmosphere at an angle of 54 degrees. It weighs approximately 1.27kg and measures 11 x 7 x 6cm. The fragment is part of an S-type meteorite weighing up to 200kg, which came to us from the Main Asteroid Belt.

The calculated density was 3203 kg/cubic metre and porosity was 10.4%. During the study, experts were able to establish that the Hamilton meteorite is a non-brecciated ordinary chondrite type L/LL5. Its age is approximately 25 million years. At the same time, the age of the parent body can reach 3.9 billion years.

Source: Wiley Online Library