The McDonough Meteorite, which produced a daylight fireball when it struck a McDonough home in June, is now on display at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville. University of Georgia scientists provided fragments for study and found metal-rich phases and minerals similar to terrestrial rocks, suggesting the stone formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. The museum is using the exhibit to educate visitors about meteorites and has added the new fragments to its Georgia collection dating back to 1829.
McDonough Meteorite — Daylight Fireball Fragment Now On View At Tellus Museum
In June, a bright, fast-moving rock blazed through Georgia's skies and struck a house in McDonough, producing a daylight fireball that was widely seen and recorded. The University of Georgia has named the recovered specimen the McDonough Meteorite, and fragments are now on public display at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville.
The exhibit lets visitors view fragments up close. One side of the main specimen is dark and scorched from its fiery atmospheric entry; the opposite face is gray with fresh fractures, revealing interior textures of a stone scientists estimate formed more than 4.5 billion years ago.
Over the summer, Scott Harris, a planetary geologist affiliated with the University of Georgia, examined pieces of the meteorite using an electron microscope. He noted bright spots in the microscope images that indicate metal-rich phases, and said the fragments are dominated by minerals and rocky material similar to terrestrial rocks.
The meteor’s unusually luminous passage — bright enough to be visible in daylight — meant many residents and cameras captured the event as it fell. Rebecca Melsheimer, a Tellus Museum coordinator, said the museum received numerous inquiries from the public and is using the recovered fragments as a hands-on teaching opportunity about meteorites and the solar system.
“We want visitors to see and touch a piece of space history,” Melsheimer said while pointing to a display case labeled for meteorites found in Georgia. The Tellus collection of Georgia finds traces back to 1829; the McDonough fragments have been added to that statewide story.
What To See
The Tellus exhibit includes the McDonough fragments alongside other Georgia meteorites, interpretation panels explaining how meteorites form and how scientists analyze them, and microscope imagery that reveals metals and minerals within the rock.
“It looked like something out of a movie,” a museum visitor said after seeing the fragment up close. “It’s amazing to think this rock traveled from space and landed here.”
The display offers both the dramatic visual of a space rock’s charred exterior and the scientific context — composition, age, and the investigative techniques researchers use to study meteorites.
