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A meteorite that crashed into a New Jersey home on Monday likely came from a cosmic snowball more than three billion miles from Earth.
The space rock – the size of a pork roast sandwich – landed in Hopewell and crashed through the roof of a house and crashed into a wooden floor.
Officials believe the meteorite was part of the Eta Aquarid shower, which contains chunks of debris from the famed Comet Halley.
The Eta Aquarid shower is active between April 15 and May 27, peaking from May 5 to May 6 and even shooting stars a week later.
The black metal object, which shot through the roof of a Hopewell home, measures six inches by four inches and weighs four pounds
The Hopewell Township Police Department (HTPD) is issuing a report shortly after news of the meteorite smashing through the house in central New Jersey.
“A metallic object, believed to be a meteorite, struck the roof of a residence on Old Washington Crossing Pennington Rd,” the department said.
“The ranch-style house was occupied at the time, but there were no injuries.
“HTPD has contacted several other agencies for assistance in positively identifying the property and securing the occupants and property.
“This may be related to a current meteor shower called the Eta Aquariids. The investigation is ongoing. ‘
Halley is often referred to as the most famous comet because it was the first time astronomers understood that comets can be repeat visitors to our night sky.
And scientists have been able to link the appearance of the comet according to observations going back more than 2,000 years.
The comet has not visited Earth since 1986 and will not return on its regular 76-year journey around the sun until 2061.
Halley’s is currently located near the constellation Hydra, which is about 133.8 light-years from Earth.
Each year, Earth passes through these debris trails, allowing the pieces to collide into our atmosphere, where they break apart to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.
The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Eta Aquarid come from Comet 1P/Halley.
Officials believe the meteorite is part of the Eta Aquarid shower, which contains chunks of debris from the famous Comet Halley
The space rock shot right through the roof, leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling
New Jersey central authorities believe the meteorite is from this month’s meteor shower
Each time Halley returns to the inner solar system, its core ejects a layer of ice and rock into space.
The dust grains eventually become the Eta Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October as they collide with Earth’s atmosphere.
And New Jersey central authorities believe the meteorite is from this month’s meteor shower.
Suzy Kop, whose family owns the home, said on Monday they thought someone had thrown a rock into an upstairs bedroom, but soon realized that wasn’t the case.
“We think it’s a meteorite, it came through here, hit the floor here because it’s completely damaged, it ricocheted into this part of the ceiling and ended up on the floor,” Kop said. KYW.
Officials said no injuries were reported from the meteorite that crashed into the house. The space stone also left a trail on the floor
“I touched the thing because it thought it was a random rock, I don’t know, and it was warm.”
Kop said hazmat officials went to their home in case she and her family had been exposed to radioactive material, but those checks all came back negative.
Kop said she was thankful no one was in the house when it happened.
Franklin Institute chief astronomer Derrick Pitts said the rock could be four to five billion years old.
“It’s been running around in space all this time, and now it’s come down to Earth and fell right into their laps, but for it to actually hit a house and people can pick it up, that’s really unusual.” It has happened very few times in history,” he said.
NASA said anyone who thinks they’ve found a meteorite should contact the Smithsonian.
“Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow down as they travel through the atmosphere and break into small fragments before hitting the ground,” NASA said.
“Meteorites cool quickly and generally pose no risk to the public.”