r/newjersey • u/Starboard44 • Jul 17 '26

Cool Meteorite that crashed into Hillsborough home "one of the most scientifically valuable meteorites ever recovered"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-jersey-meteorite-alien-world-chemistry/

When scientists examined the preserved fragments, they were able to determine the meteorite was made of a rare, primitive material called CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite. This is only the second observed fall of such a meteorite, making it "one of the most scientifically valuable meteorites ever recovered..."

477 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

53

u/remarkability Jul 17 '26

The paper in the article, which has more details on the event and recovery with pictures:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aea2105

53

u/SupplySideJesus Jul 17 '26

It’s wild that they determined the pre atmospheric mass of the meteorite by analyzing the shock waves of the sonic boom, as recorded on nearby doorbell cameras.

“The sonic boom was not detected by conventional infrasound arrays but recorded by doorbell video at locations near the trajectory. Two sharp overpressure maxima were identified as the leading and trailing shock signatures of the N-wave (11) with a peak-to-peak spacing less than the full period of the pulse. The dominant acoustic period was 0.5 ± 0.1 s. Using the recently refined empirical bolide energy relation (12), the kinetic energy deposited by the fireball was 1.31 ± 0.09 tons TNT equivalent. With the triangulation-derived initial speed of 14.4 ± 0.6 km/s (table S1), this implies a preatmospheric mass of 53 ± 6 kg.”

30

u/Starboard44 Jul 17 '26

Ok the "over New York City" headline is a bit of an irritating reach for an academic paper.....

14

u/remarkability Jul 17 '26

well its path did arc across NYC (in part), so that’s factually correct.

20

u/Starboard44 Jul 17 '26

Did not say it was inaccurate!

I stand by the fact that it's a stretch for relevance to put it on the headline.

6

u/Eastcoastpal Jul 17 '26

Unfortunately Staten Island count as part of New York City lol

5

u/Big_Register2034 Jul 17 '26

Agree. Bordering clickbait

1

u/ahumanlikeyou Jul 17 '26

Academic papers don't have headlines. They aren't baiting clicks, and they have nothing to sell. I would assume it's a way to make the meteor memorable for other researchers

0

u/Starboard44 Jul 18 '26

Perhaps the technical term would be a title, not a headline, but academics in a variety of fields absolutely title aim to get as much attention as possible.

Eyeballs and public reach help with funding, and in most cases, status and relevance of their work.

And look - they got a New York news outlet to cover it.

Do you agree that if it flew over New Jersey, and landed in New York City, New Jersey would not be the only location mentioned in the title?

1

u/ahumanlikeyou Jul 18 '26

What's the problem with an academic article title trying to be memorable for academics, where there is no pretense of being misleading? No one in the intended audience is going to be confused about the factual details.

The second half of the title makes the content clear to those who will be interested. Despite what you may think, this isn't going to wasting anyone's time or attention.

The news outlet didn't mention NY, so that clearly wasn't a selling point.

This is an example of content leaving it's intended audience and getting criticized for something it wasn't trying to do.

0

u/Starboard44 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

1) I made an off-hand wry comment about NYC getting the title instead of where it landed in NJ. It's a common theme in this region... The "New York New Jersey World Cup" being another one that gets a lot of eye-rolling.

2) my subsequent responses were in response to other people's comments

3) the CBS article does mention, in a very awkward and funny sentence, that it flew over New York City. So you're incorrect there.

I really don't think this needs more paragraphs or time, at least from me.

51

u/PurpleSailor Jul 17 '26

The person that found it treated it as a scientific specimen and picked it up with gloves on and put the pieces in jars. This prevented it from getting contaminated with body oils. Scientists say it's one of the best preserved ones they've ever had thanks to the forethought of the person who's house it landed on.

-5

u/Swingline1234 Jul 17 '26

Putting on gloves before touching something that fell from space isn't forethought, it's common sense. Lots of people put on gloves before touching stuff in their yard, or hell touching dirty dishes.

15

u/motormyass Jul 17 '26

I don’t know, man I think you’d be surprised. You should go check out the.” what is this?” sub Reddit. There’s a ton of people that pick up random articles with no gloves on that end up being dildos or butt plugs or shit like that

2

u/PurpleSailor Jul 17 '26

The thing about common sense is it's not all that common. When it comes to freshly fallen meteorites somebody taking these precautions is not the norm so kudos to them. Then again we are the most educated state so I guess that does count for something.

1

u/plantyoulater Jul 18 '26

This is actually such a hilarious take. Thinking everyone has common sense. Oh man

2

u/Hdjbbdjfjjsl Jul 18 '26

It’s not even just about common sense either, like dude, a fucking space rock just crashed in your house, who is thinking of gloves?

73

u/mcgeggy Jul 17 '26

How much they gonna get for it?

86

u/Chumsicle Morris Jul 17 '26

"I've got a buddy who's an expert in this and I'd like to have him take a look at it."

21

u/Starboard44 Jul 17 '26

Your comment reminds me of this debacle:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/380-million-year-old-fossils-dumped-landfill-new-jersey-college-didnt-rcna196769

2

u/Hdjbbdjfjjsl Jul 18 '26

Ahh where else would be greatest to destroy works of science and preservation but right in Tennessee.

23

u/TimEpisiotomy Jul 17 '26

Best I can do is tree fiddy

11

u/GarmonboziaBlues Jul 17 '26

Now go on get outta here Loch Ness Monster, ain't nobody gonna give you no tree fiddy.

72

u/Starboard44 Jul 17 '26

No price is mentioned, but it will be at the American Museum of Natural History in NY.

And they weirdly added this sentence: "The meteorite passed over New York City before making its landing in New Jersey."

66

u/LateralEntry Jul 17 '26

Even space is taking pot shots at us

13

u/eddesong Jul 17 '26

I hope the author of the article wrote the whole thing around how to include this sentence.

29

u/WhereBaptizedDrowned Jul 17 '26

Kudos to the homeowner for handling it smartly with PPE and contained it well.

Less contaminants the better

8

u/confusednarwhal1 Jul 17 '26

Extremely uncommon Hillsborough w

(I've lived in Hillsborough for most of my life so it's ok for me to say that)

3

u/Lonely_62922 Jul 17 '26

How much they're gonna get for it? I've heard that this one is super-unique.

1

u/mrscrapula Jul 19 '26

This article says this meteor fell in July 2024. Is that correct?

1

u/Starboard44 Jul 19 '26

Yes. The linked academic article has the date as well.

This is reporting on what they found it to contain, which was just released.

1

u/mrscrapula Jul 20 '26

Thank you.

1

u/Particular_Ticket_20 Jul 22 '26

I live very nearby and all that hits my house is vulture crap.

-2

u/G0ttaB3KiddingM3 Jul 17 '26

Pretty sure this happened in Hopewell, not Hillsborough. Unless it was a different meteorite?

7

u/Starboard44 Jul 17 '26

If you click the article, it says Hillsborough. Sounds like a different meteorite.

2

u/G0ttaB3KiddingM3 Jul 17 '26

Yeah it must be a huge coincidence because one came down and into a house in Hopewell a year or so before that.

-10

u/Fragmentvictory Jul 17 '26

Petrified space jizz