Meteorite Near Miss for Manchester

Amidst all the reporting of the Chelyabinsk meteor strike, our science correspondent has revealed shock news that it could have hit Manchester.

According to TV spaceman Brian Cox (from Oldham) it was a near miss.  "The Universe is thousands of miles across, almost imaginable distances.  This meteor hit Russia at almost the same latitude as us, which would have devastated my collection of space rocks, and pop memorabilia."

The city of Chelyabinsk lies at latitude 55.09 N, 66.22E.  Had the meteor struck earth a few hours later, it would have hit near the Northumbrian town of Hexham or even the City of Newcastle upon Tyne.



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A meteorite strike like this is, however a once a century event, so Manchester is unlikely to be hit until 2113, so please don't panic.