Meteorite fall (OC, ~984 g) in Titusville, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA at ~16:23 UT (~12:23 EDT) on 8 May 2023
Last update: 15 May (16:36 CEST)
A meteorite (~10×15 cm, ~984 g (~2.2 lbs), ordinary chondrite, LL6?, ~317 cm³) hit a home at location 40°18’30.0″N, 74°50’37.9″W in Old Washington Crossing Pennington Road in Titusville, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA. The meteorite penetrated the roof and the ceiling before it impacted the hardwood floor of Suzy Kop’s father’s bedroom on the second floor leaving an impact dent in it. Kop reports nobody was home when the meteorite fell. When she came into the room at around 12.35 EDT she first saw debris on the floor and two holes in the ceiling and then found the specimen in the opposite corner of the room. According to Kop the meteorite was still warm when she touched it, initially thinking it was an ordinary rock. Then she came to the conclusion that in fact it must be a meteorite. After it fell through the roof and ceiling it must have bounced off the impacted wood floor and then hit the ceiling another time before it fell back on the floor where she found it. On 9 May Suzy Kop brought the meteorite to Nathan Magee, chair of The College of New Jersey’s Physics Department. On 10 May the meteorite was analysed at the The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). While cleaning the bedroom a few days after the fall Kop found a 13.6-gram fragment which broke off the meteorite mass on impact. Very few eyewitnesses reported having seen the daytime bolide and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) sensors did not register the event.
The meteorite. Photo: Hopewell Township Police Department
The meteorite. Photo: Hopewell Township Police Department
The meteorite next to the impact dent it left on the wooden floor after falling through the ceiling. Photo: Hopewell Township Police Department
Impact dent it left on the wooden floor. Image: WPVI-TV
The impact hole in the bedroom ceiling. Image: News 12, New Jersey
The impact hole in the bedroom ceiling. Image: CBSNews
The second hole in the bedroom ceiling possibly caused after the meteorite hit the wooden floor and bounced off. Image: WPVI-TV
The second hole in the bedroom ceiling possibly caused after the meteorite hit the wooden floor and bounced off. Image: News 12, New Jersey
Another small impact mark on the floor below the second impact hole at the location where Kop found the meteorite. Image: News 12, New Jersey
The ‘Titusville’ (prov.) meteorite at TCNJ. Photo: Anthony DePrimo
Bolide and calculated fall area
This meteorite fall was first considered to be a low-mass fall but radar scan data indicate that more meteorite masses might have fallen in the area. Falling meteorites masses were exposed to high winds (~300 degrees azimuth), partly reaching a maximum velocity of ~60 m/s. The total energy is estimated at about 1 kiloton TNT equivalent. Seismometers did not clearly show this event. There is only one AMS eyewitness report from Union, New Jersey.
Composite image of radar map showing the possible signatures of falling meteorite masses (NEXRAD in blue and gray, Doppler velocity data of NOAA airport weather radar (TDWR) for small masses in green and purple). Falling masses of 1 kg are expected within the red zone, masses of 1 g in the yellow zone. HW 01 marks the fall location in the house in Titusville. Image: NASA/ARES
MEDIA
Officials: Possible meteorite damages Hopewell Township home (News 12, New Jersey, 8 May 2023)
