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Recovery and curation of the Winchcombe (CM2) meteorite |
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| Authors: | Sara S. Russell Ashley J. King Helena C. Bates Natasha V. Almeida Richard C. Greenwood Luke Daly Katherine H. Joy Jim Rowe Tobias Salge Caroline L. Smith P. Grindrod S. Boazman L. Bond V. Bond C. Casey Z. Dickeson G. Ensor S. Farrelly P. Godfrey L. J. Hallis M. B. Ihász D. Kirk L. Jackson M. R. Lee B. Mayne S. McMullan A. Mounsey S. E. Mounsey S. Mounsey S. Motaghian S. Naqvi Á. O'Brien A. Pickersgill D. Skilton I. Spencer N. R. Stephen F. Suttle M. D. Suttle R. Tartese C. Weir Cathryn Wilcock Hannah Wilcock Rob Wilcock |
| Affiliation: | 1. Planetary Materials Group, Natural History Museum, London, UK;2. School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK;3. School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, East Quadrangle, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK;4. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK;5. UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll), London, UK SCAMP, London, UK;6. UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll), London, UK;7. British and Irish Meteorite Society, London, UK;8. Toucan Energy, London, UK;9. UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll), London, UK Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK;10. Brunel Labs, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK |
| Abstract: | The Winchcombe meteorite fell on February 28, 2021 and was the first recovered meteorite fall in the UK for 30 years, and the first UK carbonaceous chondrite. The meteorite was widely observed by meteor camera networks, doorbell cameras, and eyewitnesses, and 213.5 g (around 35% of the final recovered mass) was collected quickly—within 12 h—of its fall. It, therefore, represents an opportunity to study very pristine extra-terrestrial material and requires appropriate careful curation. The meteorite fell in a narrow (600 m across) strewn field ~8.5 km long and oriented approximately east–west, with the largest single fragment at the farthest (east) end in the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Of the total known mass of 602 g, around 525 g is curated at the Natural History Museum, London. A sample analysis plan was devised within a month of the fall to enable scientists in the UK and beyond to quickly access and analyze fresh material. The sample is stored long term in a nitrogen atmosphere glove box. Preliminary macroscopic and electron microscopic examinations show it to be a CM2 chondrite, and despite an early search, no fragile minerals, such as halite, sulfur, etc., were observed. |
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