[meteorite-list] Observed Falls & Calculated Orbits

From: almitt <almitt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:48:14 2004
Message-ID: <3BDBDE23.11E682FA_at_kconline.com>

Hi Martin and Rhett,

In McSween's book he states the following. That the Prairie Network consisting of 16 stations that operated 10 years and a radius of 500
kilometers and was centered in southeast Nebraska. It was able to photograph many fireballs including Lost City Oklahoma but out of all of the
other meteors and bolides captured only Lost City was found. A similar network was operated in Canada in which Innisfree (Alberta) was
recovered. It goes on to mention that Farmington, Ks and Dhajala, India have been calculated from independent observations of the falls by
eyewitnesses. Though the calculated trajectories aren't as accurate as those determine by photographic networks they are used because they
provided a better data base in which information about asteroid bodies were derived at that time.

He shows the orbits in a table of five such bodies, most have been mentioned in the list with this thread. These observations from 1959 until
about 1974 showed where the meteorites were coming from in the solar system and the asteroid parent body links.

Now another question, (perhaps someone on the list has answered this before) did the Zagami fall or any of the other Martian falls get accurate
enough observations that it shows a link to Mars. I have heard so but can't put my finger on the source of this information. Perhaps it came
from the meteoritical bulletins. My best!

Martin Horejsi wrote:

> Rhett kindly asked:
> "Would Farmington be on the list of meteorites with calculated orbits as
> well?"
>
> Hi Rhett,
>
> I have seen Farmington listed as a calculated orbit in one
> astronomy/planetary geology text. I have forgotten the name, but remember
> that one of the authors taught at a university in Utah.
>
> I remember asking about this once, and there was some sort-of-good reason to
> assume a calculated orbit, but I cannot remember what it way. It is
> interesting that you mention Farmington. May I ask where you got its name as
> a possible candidate? That might help jog my memory.
>
> And for you evening viewing pleasure, I have a photo of a complete slice of
> Lost City pictured in the Gallery at the Meteorite Exchange. The URL is:
>
> http://www.meteorite.com/gallery/lost_city.htm
>
> Cheers,
>
> Martin
Received on Sun 28 Oct 2001 05:29:55 AM PST