The Radon Crater

 Gebel Kamil: The Radon Crater

An impact crater found in South-Western Egypt in 2009

It was one of the most remarkable impact crater finds in 2009, when Vincenzo di Michele, an Italian museum curator, found this whilst searching satellite images from Google. He was not looking for craters, but signs of ancient civilisation. What he found was a completely intact, pristine crater from at most only 5000 years ago. This is significant, because the region would have been inhabited in this time and, in all likelihood, the superbollide meteor streak may well have been witnessed by regional inhabitants.

Although there is no evidence for any local witnesses, there does appear a new hieroglyph at the beginning of the era of Ramesses II, which some researchers have attributed to the witnessing of the so-called 'Gebel Kamil' meteor. The new hieroglyph appears in about 1295 BC. The meteorite could have impacted then. Ancient Egypt, like other local civilisations like the Hittites, seemed to have known that meteoric iron came from outer space, though they speculated on the nature of the sky.

Given these circumstances, the geography of the impact site, and the possible historical impact, we can rename the crater from Gebel Kamil (the name of a nearby mountain) to the Radon Crater. Why 'Radon', you may ask. Since it's a chemical element found in the Earth's atmosphere naturally and also the name of a character in a book that I am writing, a fictionalised retelling of this discovery, that contextualises the importance of this discovery. The book is called The Radon Crater and will be made available online.

DCN