Valentine's Day Meteorite Found That Fell on Balcony in Matera

The San Valentino meteorite that fell on a balcony in Matera has been found.

After warning the population and hunting for fragments of the celestial object (for a total mass of 400-500 grams) started in recent days in Basilicata, in an area north of Matera, the search has identified the place of the fall.

The meteorite fell vertically to the ground at a speed of about 300 km/h and on impact it chipped a tile on the balcony that runs along the perimeter of a house between Contrada Rondinelle e Serra Paducci District, in Matera. He announces it Prisma, First Italian Network for the Study of Meteors and Atmosphere of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).

The hunt for fragments of the San Valentino meteor began immediately after the 2,5-kilogram bolide struck February 14, lit up the skies between Basilicata and Puglia following one trajectory from Bari to Matera. Today the news of the discovery: out of a total residual mass that managed to reach the ground of about 400-500 grams, XNUMX grams were found Over 70 grams recovered in 12 main fragments and dozens of smaller fragments.

Two brothers passionate about astronomy put the meteorite on its trail, Gianfranco and Pino Losignore, it was the mother who said she heard “a bang” coming from outside the balcony of the house.

An inspection led Gianfranco (also a municipal councilor in Matera) and Pino, as they themselves reported to the press agencies, to see a tile that had "a deep mark" and to find several fragments of rock with a diameter of about one centimeter.

“Without our curiosity, perhaps – they explained – we would have simply swept the floor of the balcony, without 'saving' anything”. “A shocking but very exciting thing”, they reported. At that point the contact with theInaf, the inspection by experts and the collection of all available finds.

The experts were able to reconstruct the path of the bolide by triangulating the data obtained from the three all-sky cameras of the Prisma network (those of Castellana Grotte, Tricase and Vasto) who spotted him.

The Valentine meteorite reportedly began to shine at an altitude of about 90 kilometers

The celestial object would have started to shine at an altitude of about 90 kilometers and then followed a descending trajectory inclined by about 60 degrees with respect to the ground, moving with an initial speed of 16-17 kilometers per second from Bari towards Matera. This is a typical speed for an object of asteroid origin, as confirmed by the heliocentric orbit.

Calculations indicate that the bolide phase ended at about 22-23 kilometers of altitude. Once the bolide was extinguished, the meteoroid residue began the dark flight phase, continuing to fall towards the ground, vertically and at a speed of about 300 km/h. And the first calculations already indicated with good probability, the fall a few kilometers north of Matera.

Now the material already recovered, say the experts at Prisma, will soon be subjected to analysis to determine the chemical composition, mineralogy and petrographic characteristics useful for the classification of the newly found meteorite.

The discovery of the Valentine meteorite occurred just three days after it fell

“The discovery occurred just three days after the fall – he explained Daniele Gardiol, astronomer at INAF in Turin and national coordinator of the Prisma network – and therefore it is very fresh, uncontaminated material.

Meteorites have survived almost unchanged for the approximately 4,5 billion years since the formation of our Solar System, and finding a newly fallen one like the one found in Matera greatly helps scientists reconstruct the stages that led to the formation of the planets, including Earth."

In the world since '59, the year in which the surveying according to these systems began, there have been approximately 40 findings. This it is the second in Italy and shortly thereafter. At the beginning of January 2020 the meteorite was found Cavezzo near Modena. A few days ago in Normandy, an 18-year-old student found a fragment of the asteroid 2023 CX1 that exploded in the sky over Northern France.

In short

The San Valentino meteorite that fell on a balcony in Matera has been found.

After warning the population and starting the search for fragments of the celestial object (with a total mass of 400-500 grams)…
The meteorite fell vertically to the ground at a speed of about 300 km/h and chipped a tile on impact…
This was announced by Prisma, the First Italian Network for the Study of Meteors and the Atmosphere of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).