Check it out folks, there just may be a €1 million bonus laying on your property this morning.
Astronomy Ireland has pinpointed Tipperary as the most likely site where a meteorite may have crash-landed from space at 9.20pm on Wednesday night last.
Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, Mr David Moore said: “We’ve had hundreds of calls and we’ve pinpointed the location to in and around Tipperary, however the organisation is hoping to have an even more precise location in the county as more reports begin to be logged. We are now looking for reports from people in Tipperary or the surrounding counties who saw a very bright fireball streak across the night sky. The rock could be worth one million euro.”
Meteorite about the size of a large Walnut
Our picture shows one meteorites located shortly after it fell near Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, here in Ireland in 1999. Note the ‘ thumb type’ indentations on the rocks surface.
So how do I recognise a meteorite?
Well it will look partially different to any ordinary rock. Meteorites come in many shapes and sizes and may have ‘fusion crust‘ which is a thin coating of glass rather like the glaze on a ceramic tile. This glaze will covers most of the outside of the freshly fallen meteorite. However this coating may very quickly crumble and falls off.
Freshly fallen meteorites, quickly recovered, are usually black over all or most of their outer surface. If they hit a particularly hard surface on the ground, they will probably chip or break into several pieces. When the interior of the stone is exposed, a stark contrast between the light coloured interior and the dark black outer fusion crust is very clearly noticeable.
Meteorites almost always contain non-oxidized iron when they land and once on earth they begin to rust.
Ninty percent of meteorites will easily attract a magnet. This is especially true for iron meteorites and you don’t need a special magnet, a simple refrigerator magnet will suffice. However not all rocks that attract a magnet are meteorites. A common earth mineral called magnetite will also attract a magnet.
Professional meteorite hunters often use a home made object called a meteorite stick to help them search and these are very easy to make. Take a magnet and tape it to the end of a long stick. Use a strong magnets salvaged from the back of any old speaker lying about. Once made simply poke at any suspicious looking rocks lying on the surface and see if they are drawn to the magnet.
Note: If you intend to look outside your own property, please beware that you must first seek the permission of the land-owner to look on their land. But remember you cannot remove any rocks without their consent, they still remain the property of that land owner.
Good hunting.
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