The word `meteor` comes from the Greek meteoron, meaning phenomenon in the sky. And used to describe the flash of light produced as small bits of dust or rock `burns up` in the Earth's. This typically occurs at heights of 80 to 110 kilometres above Earth's surface.
Meteorite Types & Percentage that Falls to the Earth
a "huge ball of fire" was spotted over the eastern Spanish regions of Catalonia and Valencia.
Witnesses reported seeing it break up into fragments.
The meteorite glowed a greenish hue as it sped at around 10 000kph through the atmosphere on a northeast-southeast trajectory. to read more
Hints of cosmic crash at Serpent Mound
Researchers have long suspected that there is a meteorite crater nearly a half-mile across inSeneca County, Ohio. Now, scientists have detected shocked quartz crystals and iridium from twin boreholes, 1,412 feet beneath the forests and farmlands near Serpent Mound, in south-central Ohio.
This is the telltale trace of a massive energy burst from a cosmic crash 256 million years ago.
The object would have been gigantic, up to three times larger than “Cleveland Browns Stadium”, and travelling up to 45,000 mph. Particles of soot left from scorched limestone were also found, although researchers say additional work is needed before the strange black material is positively identified.
The crater touches portions of Adams, Pike and Highland counties, about 200 miles southwest of Cleveland. Serpent mound was built about 1,000 years ago, and straddles land near the crater's southwest edge.
"I think we can say with authority today that this is an impact from a meteorite. It affected the region in a spectacular way." - Mark T. Baranoski, geologist.
Those crazy americans have already named it `Liberty Crater` to read more
The Perth Observatory
(2 April 2005)
is attempting to figure out if an unidentified object seen in the skies of Western Australian and the Northern Territory, was space junk or a large meteorite. Alice Springs police received more than 20 reports of the unidentified object tracking across central Australian skies, all the way from 320 kilometres to the south-west at Yulara and 170 kilometres north at Ti Tree.
It is very likely that this fireball was the decay of a Soyuz SL-12 Rocket booster, 2005-010.
shortly before 8 p.m, a fireball streaked through the night sky across the western half of the Pacific Northwest, moving from south to north, and startling people all the way from southern Oregon to the Seattle area.
"It was like a big ball of fire. Behind it was a trail of blue."
It appears to have landed in the ocean. to read more
The space rock that created Meteor Crater
in Arizona hit the planet much more slowly than astronomers once figured. New analysis explains why there's a lot less melted rock in the crater than expected. The mystery has dogged researchers for years.
The crater – 174 metres deep and 1.25 kilometres across -- was blasted out 50,000 years ago by a nickel-iron meteorite roughly 40 metres wide. Previous calculations had the rock slamming into the ground at no less than 15 km/sec, based in part on the expected speeds of large meteors in relation to Earth. Such an impact ought to have generated more melted rock in and around the crater than what's been found.
A new computer model, reported in the March 10 2005 issue of the journal Nature, shows the incoming object would have slowed considerably during its plunge through the atmosphere, a shock wave, at an altitude of about 14 km, just ahead of the incoming body would break it apart; and at an altitude of 5 km, into a pancake-shaped cloud roughly 200 meters across, of iron fragments prior to impact. About half the original 300,000-ton bulk remained intact, smacking the planet at about 12 km/sec, roughly 10 times faster than a rifle bullet. Meteor Crater was the first scar on Earth confirmed to have been created by a space rock.
"It's probably the most studied impact crater on Earth. We were astonished to discover something entirely unexpected about how it formed."
The modelling is based in part on investigations by Daniel Barringer. Barringer and others found chunks of the iron space rock weighing from a pound up to 1,000 pounds in a 9.6 km diameter circle around the crater. The new work also draws from an improved understanding of how Earth's atmosphere cushions extraterrestrial blows.
"Earth's atmosphere is an effective but selective screen that prevents smaller meteoroids from hitting Earth's surface".
The effect of hitting the Earth’s atmosphere, even for an iron-heavy meteorite like the one that struck Arizona, is a lot like hitting a wall. And many space rocks are already cracked before they arrive.
"Even though iron is very strong, the meteorite had probably been cracked from collisions in space. The weakened pieces began to come apart and shower down from about 14 kilometres high. And as they came apart, atmospheric drag slowed them down, increasing the forces that crushed them so that they crumbled and slowed more."
There are reports
of a daylight fireball over Devon , UK.
"A few seconds before 0955 UTC today, Sunday 20 February I saw what appeared to be a very bright daylight fireball streak low across the western sky. It first caught my eye as a flash of green, and for an instant I thought it was a flash of sunlight off a turning aircraft. It brightened and moved very rapidly and developed a short intensely bright vividly iridescent green trail. It lasted no more than 2 seconds, maybe 3. The trail started about 250 degrees azimuth and ended at 270-275 degrees, at an elevation of perhaps 6-8 degrees above the horizon.”
A spectacular fireball
was seen on Thursday 27th Jan, night before falling in a neighbourhood near two Madrid airports.
"We had three calls and are aware of other calls reporting a huge fireball before midnight on Thursday." - Luis Serrano of the emergency telephone service in Madrid.
Barajas International Airport that services the Spanish capital is about seven kilometres from Torrejon military air base.
"An enormous, incandescent and very red ball gave a tremendous flash and then went out in a few seconds" - witness Jose Antonio Lopez
UPDATE: The meteorite has been found near Torrejon de Ardos (east of Madrid, near Madrid airport). It weighs 30kg
A meteorite
Cambodian meteorite
weighting about 4.5 kg fell into rice fields on 24th Jan. 7am in Cambodia's border province Banteay Meanchey, 300 km northwest of the capital Phnom Penh, and setting fire to paddy fields.
Villagers heard a tremendous noise like a bomb exploding.
A hole of 30 cm depth was left by the black-coloured rock which local people suspected as a meteorite.
However, it is extremely unlikey that the meteorite started the fire. `Slash and burn` agriculture is common in this area.
for picture 1, 2 , 3
Astronomical experts
have joined forces with puzzled Shropshire residents in a bid to identify the mysterious beam of light spotted in the county's skies. People across the county stopped in their tracks as a massive beam of light lit up the early morning gloom at 6.40am Tuesday 18th Jan 2005 . But no-one could explain what caused the eerie light which disappeared three seconds later. Now county residents and top boffins have drawn up a list of possible explanations for the phenomenon, including an iridium flare, a burning meteor, a bright search light, aircraft landing lights or even a UFO. to read more
A fireball
with a bright blue tail was seen sky over Wrexham, UK, at 4am on Friday 14th Jan.
"It went across the sky with this fabulous bright blue trail behind it. It was a very short trail and looked intensely hot. I would love to Find out what it was." to read more
Thousands of villagers
in northwest China's Gansu province combed the hills in search of a crashed unidentified flying object believed to be a one ton meteorite. The object is thought to have hit the rural suburbs, about 60 kilometres from downtown Lanzhou on the night of 9 th January 2005, causing a loud explosion recorded by the Gansu Provincial Seismology Bureau. Three large silver-coloured unusual looking stones that are believed to be fragments from the meteorite were found. to read more
Mystery ball of fire
falls in Khopoli, Raigad district India.
A series of explosions was heard simultaneously at around 2030 hrs, 11th January 2005, in surrounding villages, causing residents to run out of their houses for fear that they would come crashing down.
Officials are still carrying out investigations.
Update: turns out it was a aircraft sonic boom ...
Residents in Juneau,
Alaska, saw a fiery meteor traversing the sky at 7:45 a.m. 7 January 2005.
"I see this big ball of light coming down. There were flashes of green and red. It was really colourful. The sky was clear. It was gorgeous." to read more
Witnesses have reported
Falling object
.seeing a falling object with a fiery tail hurtling toward earth, before a loud explosions heard in the satellite city of Tanggerangand several districts of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, around 7.30am local time ( 00h30GMT), Sunday 19 December.
The explosion could be heard as far away as Bogor, some 60km south of the capital.
The object was probably a large meteor that exploded and then burned as it fell through the earth's atmosphere, around 100km above the surface. to read more
A mysterious bright
A few pieces of the meteorite
flash of light crossed the east coast of Australia early Monday (6th dec)
Residents living on the coast of New South Wales reported hearing sonic-type rumbling and vibrations and seeing a fast-moving, bright flash of light, travelling west to east.
"It didn't seem to come out of the sky like lightning does."
This seems to have been a meteorite traveling at roughly 30km/sec, exploding with a force of about 500-1000 tonnes of TNT, least 20 kilometres high,breaking into about five parts high in the sky just north of Taree at 4.18am. It was probably a stony or iron meteorite, and at least as big as a basketball.
"Any debris would have fallen into the sea." to read more to read more
"I THINK I might have a few pieces of the meteorite." They are misshapen, and leave sooty marks on your hands.
The largest measures about 10cms, the smallest is about 5cm. to read more
A meteorite
blank space
that landed in Sankabodi Viharaya, Pulasthipura, Polonnaruwa, SriLanka, on November 27, around 1.20 p.m, creating a crater 3.6 cm in length, 3.3 cm in width and 3 cm in depth, has now been confirmed to be a rare type iron meteorite by the Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, after an X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry analysis and several other tests.
A resident monk, Yatigala Upathissa Thera, saw a blue smoke tail when it came down. According to eye witnesses the object was shining metallic blue but within 24 hours it has turned brownish black due to oxidation after contact with oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.
The meteorite weighing 47.015 gm contained elements Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Zn. with a 4.75 specific gravity to read more
An unidentified flying object,
magnet on meteorite
Woman HOLDS METEORITE
or UFO, passed across the large north-western Chinese city ofLanzhou ( Gansu province ) and apparently exploded in the suburbs.
The unusual sighting of two bright trails of light, reported by several witnesses, took place on Saturday shortly before midnight.
Police, working on the theory that it was a meteorite, went to investigate, but as of early Monday they had found no evidence of what caused the nightly phenomenon.
Others said they heard a huge explosion and felt as if an earthquake had struck. to read more
For the second time in her life,
Phyllis Rice HOLDS METEORITE
Phyllis Rice has found another meteorite; found lodged in the screen of her patio door!
During the Leonid meteor shower on Nov 16, a half inch in diameter meteorite hit the home of Phyllis and her husband Larry Rice at 1921 Adams Street, Ohio , US.
It’s a typical meteorite, black on one side and a rusty, burnt orange colour on the other.
"I'm not the expert on meteorites. But I can say it's highly likely that this is a meteorite, a falling star, based on the texture and the colour and the angle of impact on the screen."
"When I was small, about 10 or 11, my mother and I were walking on North Eighth Street, and we saw a shooting star fall to the ground right in front of us." to read more
University of New Mexico
LAP 03632
researcher Barbara Cohen and a team of geologists picked up a chunk of the moon , one of only about 30 ever found on Earth., in the barren Antarctica landscape .
They found the fist-sized meteorite, designated LAP 03632, about a year ago, during a six-week Antarctic summer trip, but the analysis wasn't finished until recently.
A 1.3kg,
Brenda Archer meteorite
four billion-year-old meteorite fell through the roof of Brenda Archer's house in suburban Auckland, New Zealand on 12th June. The chondrite meteorite itself, a chunk of an asteroid, could have been basketball-sized when it impacted Earth's atmosphere at 15km a second. By the time it hit the house, its velocity had probably slowed to 100-200m a second."
“There was just a huge explosion and we looked around and there was just dust everywhere,"
It is only the ninth meteorite ever found here and the first to hit a home. The last one was found in 1976 but it is not known when it landed. Worldwide, such strikes happen only once every three or four years.
Overseas dealers were expected to offer the Archers cash for the rock, the rock could be worth more than $10,000 - coming through the roof added significantly to its value.
As an update to this story it seems as if the New Zealand couple have rejected a hefty offer($50,000 NZ /USD32,000) for the meteorite that hit their house and have taken it off the market.
They`ve decided the rock should be available for public display. Next week, it begins a two-month run in the Unseen Worlds exhibit at the Auckland Museum, and it is also scheduled for a space exhibition later this year.
Australian scientists
(Now shown not to be a meteorite)
(Now shown not to be a meteorite)
are studying what could be the first photograph of a meteorite hitting Earth. The chances of an impact being captured on film are millions to one.
"If this is true, it's one of the most remarkable pictures ever taken"
The photograph was taken by keen amateur photographer Wayne Pryde as he stood near the Darwin cenotaph on The Esplanade and looked down to Fort Hill Wharf , Northern Territory, Australia, on Monday evening, 22nd November.
"Nobody has ever photographed one hitting Earth."
"The meteorite, which could have been as small as a grain of sand, would have been travelling about 30,000km/h."
Mr Pryde believes a tiny piece of space rock hit the top of a 20m lamp post on the wharf. The explosion on impact could be seen clearly in the photograph. The "tube" created by the meteorite as it hurtled towards Earth is harder to pick out. (Ed - however the size and trajectory and speed seem to be wrong)
"I was taking a series of time-lapse pictures of the build-up of clouds. I did not realise I had snapped the meteorite until later."
The wharf lamp bulb was found to be blown but the top of the post was not checked for damage until a day after. Experts believe the meteorite may not have hit the lamp post, but metal elsewhere on the wharf.
Here are a few updates to this story that show that it is not a meteorite: The path is too straight and shows no sign of a ballistic entry; therefore, the velocity density would have to be extremely high.
The smoke trail does not intersect with the flash, but rather a point above it.
There is no sign of the "smoke trail” in a second image, taken 15 seconds later.
The smoke trail cannot be directly illuminated by sunlight; apart from the high clouds, nothing else is. This is consistent with the Sun being below the horizon.
Scientists
tiny huh?
closeup
have pinpointed the source of a tiny (7-cm) meteorite, SaU 169 that fell in the Oman desert on Jan. 16, 2002; it's from the moon! Their unique meteorite records four separate lunar impacts. They are the first to precisely date Mare Imbrium, the youngest of the large meteorite craters on the moon to 3.9 billion years ago; this is a key event, because life on Earth would have evolved only after heavy meteorite bombardment ended.
By analysing beryllium and carbon isotopes it told how long the meteorite was in space after it was launched from the moon and how long ago it fell to Earth.
By tested it with a Geiger counter, they found it contained high levels of radioactive uranium, thorium and potassium. The ratios between these elements fit only one enigmatic group of lunar rocks called "KREEP," the acronym of K for potassium, REE for rare earth elements, and P for phosphate. The Imbrium impact basin on the lunar nearside is the only area where KREEP rocks are found. This is known from samples returned by the Apollo missions and by NASA's Lunar Prospector Orbiter radioactivity survey in 1998-99.
University of Arizona
scientists have discovered that meteorites, particularly iron meteorites, may have been critical to the evolution of life on Earth.
Their research shows that meteorites easily could have provided more phosphorus than naturally occurs on Earth -- enough phosphorus to give rise to bio-molecules which eventually assembled into living, replicating organisms. Phosphorus is central to life. It forms the backbone of DNA and RNA because it connects these molecules' genetic bases into long chains. to read more.
Researchers
mil03346
have uncovered another piece of the red planet in the most inhospitable place on Earth -- Antarctica.
The new specimen was found by a field party from the U.S. Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET) on Dec. 15, 2003, on an ice field in the Miller Range of the Tran Antarctic Mountains, roughly 750 km (466 miles) from the South Pole. This 715.2-gram (1.6-pound) black rock, officially designated MIL 03346, was one of 1358 meteorites collected by ANSMET during the 2003-2004 austral summer.
The new specimen is the seventh recognized member of a group of Martian meteorites called the nakhlites, named after the first known specimen that fell in Nakhla, Egypt, in 1911.
Nakhlites are significant among the known Martian meteorites for several reasons. Thought to have originated within thick lava flows that crystallized on Mars approximately 1.3 billion years ago, and sent to Earth by a meteorite impact about 11 million years ago, the nakhlites are among the older known Martian meteorites. As a result they bear witness to significant segments of the volcanic and environmental history of Mars.
The enlarged image shows a black fusion crust with vugs, as well as lighter interior exposed on the left side. to see read more. (pdf)
that fell on a Soviet military base in Yemen in March 12, 1980 may have come rom one of the moons of Mars.
Several meteorites from the Red Planet have been found on Earth, but this could be the only piece of Martian moon rock.
The fist-sized carbon-rich Kaidun meteorite maybe a chip off Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons .
The meteorite is specific in its composition: it contains numerous fragments and inclusions formed at an early stage of the Solar System evolution by nebular condensation, gaseous metasomatosis, agglomeration, and other processes, and two different fragments of alkaline-enriched differentiated material, which entered the parent body as a result of different events. The data on the lithologic composition of the Kaidun meteorite give strong arguments for considering the meteorite's parent body to be a carbonaceous chondrite satellite of a large differentiated planet.
Hope of resolving the mystery rests with the European Space Agency, which has been asked by UK scientists to consider sending a mission to Phobos as part of its Mars exploration programme.
Ancient impacts:
Roundup of Ancient impact news and current research. to read more
A professor
of geological sciences at Ohio State has found evidence suggesting that the climate altered suddenly some 5,200 years ago with severe impacts.
“Something happened back at this time and it was monumental.”
Lonnie Thompson believes that the 5,200-year old event may have been caused by a dramatic fluctuation in solar energy reaching the earth. to read more
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