[meteorite-list] Neuschwanstein Meteorite (Translation by B. Pauli)

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:12 2004
Message-ID: <3D46EF4F.60153766_at_lehrer.uni-karlsruhe.de>

European Fireball Patrol Network delivered hints at place of impact

The youngest baby of German meteoriticists weighs 1,750 grams, is
attracted to a magnet, and its surface has a matte black fusion crust
with rusty specks. It’s already been baptized Neuschwanstein and it has
been found only six kilometers (about 4 miles) from (Ludwig II.‘s)
famous castle near Füssen (in Bavaria) after a systematic search. The
baby meteorite Neuschwanstein is part of a bigger celestial body which
may have weighed 600 kg and whose extremely luminous path in the sky
was widely observed on April 6, 2002 at about 22:20 hrs CET over
Southern Bavaria and Austria.

© by DLR –The picture shows the fragment of the meteorite that fell on
April 6 and which has been found after a systematic search near Castle
Neuschwanstein. According to the place of find, it was named
Neuschwanstein.

This fragment was found only because of a well-planned, systematic
search that was initiated by the German Center for Air And Space Travel
(DLR). To make this possible, DLR scientists in Berlin-Adlershof use in
particular the data of the European Fireball Network, which regularly
surveys the night skies over Central Europe to search for (bright)
meteors. Seven pictures of the European Fireball Network taken during
the night of April 6 wre successfully chosen for model computations of
the possible location of impact. The result was: Several fragments of
the meteoroid’s original mass of about 600 kg with an overall total of
about 20 kg must have survived the plunge (through the atmosphere) and
must have reached the ground (intact). The place of impact of the main
mass of the meteorite could be narrowed down to an area of about 700 x
1,000 meters east of Hohenschwangau near Füssen, in a mountainous, hard
to reach area. It was only after several systematic search expeditions
that the first partial mass could be recovered on July 14th and which
was now presented to the press under the name of Neuschwangau.

This is the first time in Germany that a meteorite could be recovered on
the basis of photographic observations and model computations. As the
partial mass of Neuschwanstein has been found only about two kilometers
from the predicted point of impact of the main mass, the DLR scientists
hope to find the main mass too. It is estimated to weigh about 15 kg.

According to the DLR scientists, the recovered partial mass remained
undamaged because there was a snow blanket about 1 meter (ca. 40 inches)
deep into which it impacted on April 6. The rusty stains on its surface
developed after it fell and hint at metal-containing material.

Neuschwanstein only a fragment of an asteroid measuring 600 meters?

According to the DLR researchers from Berlin-Adlershof, the chemistry
and petrology of the precious, extraterrestrial find will now be
analysed painstakingly in order to classify it appropriately. In this
context, a comparison with the Pribram meteorite (H5) will be of
particular interest. This meteorite fell 43 years ago on April 7, 1959,
was also photographed by fireball survey cameras and later found in (the
former) Czechoslovakia. The model computations showed that the orbital
elements of Neuschwanstein are almost identical to those of Pribram,
something extraordinary with regard to meteorites. This discovery could
well mean that there is an entire stream of meteoritical pieces that
possibly formed when a small asteroid broke apart. The work now done in
the lab should determine whether both meteorites stem from the same
parent body and how long ago the fragmentation of the parent body
occurred. Statistical considerations predict that there should be about
1 billion meteorites of similar composition corresponding to an asteroid
measuring about 600 meters in diameter.

Tuesday, July 30, 2002, 14:28 hrs.
Received on Tue 30 Jul 2002 03:55:59 PM PDT