News Planetary Science

An asteroid may have exploded over Antarctica about 2.5 million years ago

Bits of rock may point to the oldest known midair asteroid disintegration

Illustration of an asteroid hitting Antarctica

Bits of rock in Antarctica suggest an asteroid disintegrated over the icy continent roughly 2.5 million years ago.  

Mark A. Garlick/markgarlick.com 

By Katherine Kornei

Around 2.5 million years ago, an asteroid may have exploded over Antarctica. 

The evidence comes from a chemical analysis of more than 100 tiny pieces of rock entrained within the White Continent’s ice, researchers report in the Feb. 1 Earth and Planetary Science Letters.