Winchcombe space rock gets official classification

The Winchcombe meteorite is now official.

The rocky material that fell to Earth in a blazing fireball over the Cotswold town of Winchcombe in February has had its classification formally accepted.

Details have just been published by the international Meteoritical Society in its bulletin database.

Early work by UK scientists indicates the Winchcombe object dates back to the very beginning of the Solar System, some 4.6 billion years ago.

Dr Ashley King from London's Natural History Museum spoke with Roland Pease from the BBC's Science In Action programme on the World Service.