A fragment of the meteor that streaked across the southeastern United States on 26 June and pierced the roof of a home in McDonough, Georgia, has been dated at 4.56 billion years—about 20 million years older than Earth itself. University of Georgia planetary geologist Scott Harris analysed 23 grams of the cherry-tomato-sized rock, which punched through the ceiling and dented the floor only metres from the homeowner. Microscopic examination shows the specimen is a low-metal ordinary chondrite, one of the solar system’s oldest rock types. Harris says its mineralogy links it to asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter and, more specifically, to debris from a much larger body that broke apart roughly 470 million years ago. NASA sensors recorded sonic booms when the one-metre-wide, one-ton object exploded high over Georgia, showering the area with small fragments. Pending review by the Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee, researchers have proposed naming the stone the “McDonough Meteorite.” It is the 27th meteorite ever recovered in Georgia and only the sixth witnessed fall. Further study at the University of Georgia and Arizona State University will focus on its composition and trajectory, research that Harris says could refine models for assessing the hazard posed by larger, potentially dangerous asteroids.