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Asteroid Hits Donegal
Preliminary Results Released
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On the evening of February 3rd, a huge fireball was seen by thousands of people in Ireland. This fireball was a large rock - possibly the size of a car - striking our atmosphere and blazing into flames, a sight seen be so many all over the country.
To date, Astronomy Ireland has received hundreds of reports, and can reveal that a meteorite may have landed in County Donegal, as was announced at the February Public Lecture.
However, only a small percentage of witnesses have actually reported the sight, and this is posing some difficulty in finding the exact location of the meteorite.
"We suspect only one in a hundred people who saw the fireball have actually reported it," said David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland. "This makes triangulating the landing site very difficult, indeed. We want everyone who saw the fireball to report it via our website as soon as possible!"
Astronomy Ireland is still seeking reports from anyone who may have seen it, particularly in the north-west of the country.
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So where did this rock come from? Billions of years ago, most of the rocks and dust in the Solar System condensed to form the Sun and the Planets. However, some leftover debris still floats around in space. Sometimes, this debris makes its way to Earth and causes a spectacular sight in the night sky.
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