HISTORIC METEORITES
METEORITES AND THE DRAMATIC FIREBALLS THAT ANNOUNCE THEIR ARRIVAL have long instilled both fear and wonder in the human imagination. Yet scientists did not begin to understand meteorites until fairly recently. It wasn't until the early 1800s—after researchers investigated a series of dramatic meteorite falls in both Europe and the United States—that most scientists accepted that rocks actually fall to Earth from space. Today, better technology allows researchers to study meteorites in new ways and unlock their many secrets.
A 500-YEAR-OLD FALL
Around 11:30 A.M. on November 16, 1492, a young boy saw a large stone plummet from the sky and land in a wheat field near the town of Ensisheim in Alsace, France. This fall is the earliest one witnessed in the Western world from which meteorite samples have been preserved.
The Ensisheim meteorite was considered a sign of good luck from God. Immediately after it fell, people began chipping off pieces as sacred souvenirs. Fragments of Ensisheim can be found in museum collections all over the world.
Shortly after the Ensisheim fall, artists and writers began recording the historic event. This woodcut made in 1492 appeared in a manuscript about Ensisheim and is the earliest known image of a European meteorite fall.
ROCKS FROM SPACE?
When the Krasnojarsk meteorite was found in 1749, no one believed that rocks came from space. But after Ernst Chladni, a German physicist, analyzed this meteorite's unusual mixture of stone and iron, he began to convince skeptics that meteorites did indeed originate far from Earth. For his innovative work, Chladni became known as the father of meteoritics—the study of meteorites.
EVIDENCE OF CELESTIAL ORIGIN
The Wold Cottage meteorite made quite a splash when it landed in Yorkshire, England, on December 13, 1795: a farmhand standing near the impact site was splattered with mud. Many other villagers also watched the fall. Analysis of the stone's composition by scientists at the Royal Society provided additional evidence that meteorites do indeed have extraterrestrial origins.
FINAL PROOF
On April 26, 1803, meteorites rained down on the town of L'Aigle in Normandy, France. A number of people, including French officials, witnessed this shower of stones, which firmly established that meteorites can and do drop from the sky. After L'Aigle, museums and private collectors began to include meteorites in their collections.
Weston meteorite
© AMNH/Jackie Beckett
AMERICA'S FIRST FIREBALL
As scientists in Europe continued to debate the extraterrestrial origins of meteorites, their counterparts in the United States discounted the theory—until a meteorite landed in their backyard. In 1807, astonished residents watched a fireball explode in the skies above Weston, Connecticut. Weston was the first documented meteorite fall in the recently established nation, then just 31 years old.
ANTARCTIC METEORITE
Since 1976, the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program, or ANSMET, has found more than 10,000 meteorites. This sample, Allan Hills 76009, was one of the first Antarctic meteorites collected by ANSMET. Discoveries made by the ANSMET program have revolutionized the science of meteorites. For instance, meteorites found in Antarctica helped prove that these objects could come from Mars and the Moon.
Antarctica is an ideal place to find meteorites because the dark specimens are easy to see against the snow and ice. As the ice sheets move, they push older ice to the surface. Powerful winds remove the ice, exposing meteorites buried underneath.
