The Braunschweig meteorite is a meteorite that hit Melverode, a suburb in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, at around 2:05 AM on 23 April 2013. It hit the concrete pavement in front of the home of Erhard Seemann, breaking into hundreds of fragments on impact, the largest of which is . The meteorite created a small impact crater in the concrete, with a diameter of and a depth of .

Composition and classification

The meteorite has been classified as an L6

ordinary chondrite The ordinary chondrites (sometimes called the O chondrites) are a class of stony chondritic meteorites. They are by far the most numerous group, comprising 87% of all finds. Hence, they have been dubbed "ordinary". The ordinary chondrites are t ...

Impact

The meteorite fell at around 2:05 AM on 23 April 2013, with an estimated velocity of . It hit concrete pavement from Erhard Seemann's front door, breaking into hundreds of fragments upon impact. The largest fragment, with a mass of 214 grams, stuck in the concrete, forming an

impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

with a diameter of and a depth of . Fragments of concrete ejected from the impact were as wide as . Many other fragments of the meteorite were found within from the impact crater by several people. Traces of a secondary impact were found at a nearby brick wall in the form of indents wide. A total of of fragments were found.

Reports

A neighbor reported hearing a strong hum and "whoosh" followed by a loud crash at around 2:10 AM, and then found four fragments of the meteorite on his driveway. In

Ahlum Ahlum is a village and a former municipality in the district Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous c ...

, from the impact site, Julian Mascow reported a bright flare approaching from the southeast for 1–2 seconds, with a luminosity "like dawn," before ending in a "short tracer just over his head." He heard a loud explosion about 90 seconds later followed by a rumbling noise. Mark Vornhusen's web camera documented the fireball from

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every summer and has a hi ...

, located about from Braunschweig. The

light meter A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter (more correctly an exposure meter) is used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. The meter will include either a digital or analog calcula ...

of a weather station in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

, approximately from Braunschweig, recorded 5 seconds of brightening. The

Technical University of Braunschweig The Technische Universität Braunschweig (unofficially University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Braunschweig, is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in German ...

informed expert Rainer Bartoschewitz of the reports, who inspected the site on April 27 and confirmed the meteorite.

References

External links

* {{Modern impact events 2013 in Germany April 2013 events in Europe Meteorites found in Germany Chondrite meteorites Meteorite falls Events in Lower Saxony 2010s in Lower Saxony Braunschweig 2013 in space