ECC students study meteorite

An Edgecombe Community College astronomy class experienced hands-on learning recently when they analyzed a meteorite found by a local farmer.

Students in Descriptive Astronomy, taught by Rebecca Stamilio, examined a 146-pound meteorite that fell into a local farmer’s field.

He discovered the meteorite when he was plowing his land last year. The big rock sliced his disk in half.

“There are three classes of meteorites, and we think this is a

stone meteorite,” said Stamilio, who is a physics and industrial trades instructor at the college. Stone meteorites are the largest group of meteorites, and they once formed part of the outer crust of a planet or asteroid.

The class measured the meteorite and discussed its different features.