March 22nd, 2022, 21:22 UTC. A small object plunges from the frozen depths of space into the earth’s atmosphere above Iceland. On the other side of Europe the fiery descent is noticed by a middle-aged Geography teacher who also happens to be the head of the Hungarian Astronomical Association. Krisztián Sárneczky – that very same teacher – happens to be at a private observatory in Budapest that evening. Watching from the Piszkésteto Mountain Station, part of Konkoly Observatory – when he notices the 3m wide object. The object, now recognized as an asteriod and posthumously named 2022 EB 5, entered the atmosphere at around 11 miles per second, rapidly burning up. Less than two hours after it’s discovery, 2022 EB 5 disappeared, a brief romance doomed from the start. Did it survive? No one knows. No meteorite debris from it have been discovered yet. Goodbye 2022 EB 5 – we hardly had a chance to get to know one another.
While we don’t have a photograph of 2022 EB 5, we have a substitute to entertain you with. Above is a woodcut showing the fall of the Ensisheim meteorite on November 7, 1492 from the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel (1493). We also have a variety of meteorites for sale.
Woodcut showing the fall of the Ensisheim meteorite on November 7, 1492. From the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel (1493).