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The explosion this week of an asteroid above Normandy was quite a magical moment for those who were able to visualize this celestial object crossing the sky. Astronomy enthusiasts wanted to prolong this moment by trying to find debris. Some came from the United States, from NASA, others crossed France.
At first sight, it is only a vulgar pebble. In reality, it is a meteorite, a fragment of this asteroid that entered the atmosphere in the middle of the night on Sunday February 12. The ball of fire, visible from several countries, lights up the sky before ending its course in Normandy. The fragment is found in the middle of a field by an enthusiast. “It was a pebble that did not look like the others”says Loïs Leblanc-Rappe, an art student.
“Vestige of the formation of the solar system”
The discovery is indeed exceptional. So rare that French researchers and NASA come to comb the scene, in search of other celestial bodies. A fragment of barely 5 cm per 100 grams. “The pebble we found yesterday is older than our planet. (…) It is a remnant of the formation of the solar system”, enthuses Pierre Vernazza, researcher at the CNRS, member of the group of scientists of the Vigie-Ciel project. This meteorite will be studied by scientists, and could provide valuable information on the origin of our galaxy.
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