Winchcombe museum triples visitors with 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite on display

The fragment of this space rock fell right in front of the house of Rob Wilcock, his wife Cathryn, and their daughter Hannah on the night of February 28th, 2021. The meteorite, which belongs to a group known as carbonaceous chondrites, has astounded British scientists for their first encounter with its kind in about three decades. What do we know about this unique object?

This fragment, with its unchanged chemical composition since the solar system's formation, offers a peek into the distant past. Researchers estimate this object to be about 4.6 billion years old, with the potential of giving us fresh insights about how the planets formed. As the rock passed through the atmosphere, creating an enormous fireball, they knew that fragments of the meteorite were bound to land on Sunday, February 28, in the Gloucestershire region, thanks to their camera capture.

Pictures taken from various angles helped the scientists narrow down their search area. After making a public appeal through various media outlets the following day, they were hopeful of someone coming forward with an interesting find. While most pictures received didn't have anything to do with meteorites, Richard Greenwood, a planetologist from Open University, was overjoyed when he saw an image sent by the Wilcocks.

The meteorite fragment now resides in the local museum in Winchcombe. Museum staff member Michael Dufton described the find to the BBC as a "huge gift". The display of this material has greatly increased visitor numbers, from the pre-pandemic count of an annual 1,000 to 2,000 visitors to the current range of 5,000 to 6,000 visitors. Dufton shared that some individuals are willing to travel over 100 miles just to witness this extraordinary find.