Richard Jakiel fell in love with outer space as a kid, and his enthusiasm never waned.
Now 67, the Lithia Springs man, who has taught astronomy in Cobb County high schools and at universities, plans to use his retirement to pursue a doctorate degree in meteorites.
So when a fireball blazed across the Georgia sky in broad daylight Thursday, his thoughts turned to what he considers the best part of the unusual event: The treasure hunt for space rocks after the fall.
“It’s like a miniature gold rush,” he said of the quest to find meteorites. “It’s worth more than gold per ounce.”
To him, “The coolest thing about meteorites is that they are the oldest things that we can touch.”
Jakiel, a 38-year member of the Atlanta Astronomy Club, is not alone in his awe.
Thursday’s meteor captivated many across the Southeast, but perhaps no one was quite as thrilled as the amateur meteorite chasers who track down bits of space rock and the astronomy researchers whose lifework is analyzing space activity.
The meteor was first seen shortly after noon about 48 miles above Oxford in Newton County and traveled southwest, according to Bill Cooke, lead of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office. It disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest and unleashed “an energy of about 20 tons of TNT,” he added.
Once a meteor hits the ground, it’s classified as a meteorite. A total of 28 meteorites have been found in Georgia since 1829, according to data from the Meteoritical Society. Before Thursday, the most recent fell in 2022, the organization reported on its website.
It’s the latest exciting event for Georgia space lovers, including recent chances to see the northern lights, said Steve Siedentop, director of the Charlie Elliott Astronomy Club in Mansfield.
“There have been a number of Super Bowls this year, believe it or not, for astro-enthusiasts,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is the latest in these big events.”
Credit: Courtesy of Steve Siedentop
Credit: Courtesy of Steve Siedentop
R. Scott Harris, a planetary geologist and visiting researcher at the University of Georgia, was halfway across the country when he learned about Thursday’s meteor. Still, he got to work.
Officials in Henry County were counting on him to identify rock fragments that pelted a house and are believed to be meteorite. Since then, he has pored over photos and videos of the incident.
Harris said he’s seen “enough information to be absolutely certain” the material that hit the home came from outer space.
“The study of these is extremely important. Even when you’re looking at small bits, it tells us about where these objects are in the solar system, and what the future risk of us being hit might be,” he said.
Toshi Hirabayashi, a Georgia Tech professor who studies space operations, celestial mechanics and planetary science, quickly began analyzing videos of the fireball Thursday “just for fun.”
It’s the kind of reaction one might expect from a man who has an asteroid named after him.
Based on his rough calculations, the object was moving “definitely faster than 10 miles per second” or roughly 36,000 mph, he said.
While it’s fun to see smaller meteorites hit the Earth, it’s critical to prepare for when a larger meteor comes blazing in and does real damage. In 2013, a meteor the size of a house exploded 14 miles above Russia, Hirabayashi said.
“We are working so hard to monitor, as well as develop technologies to defend Earth,” he said.
Credit: courtesy of Zach DiBois
Credit: courtesy of Zach DiBois
Zach DiBois, president of the Middle Georgia Astronomical Society, said Thursday’s meteor could be indicative of more objects bombarding the Earth.
“If you think about it in a certain light, it could be terrifying,” he said, as he drove to an astronomy club event in Macon while speaking by phone to the AJC. “For me, it’s exciting.”
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