[meteorite-list] Scientists Believe Meteor Broke Apart Over The Southwest

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:00 2004
Message-ID: <200210111639.JAA01316_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6572%257E917997,00.html

Scientists believe meteor broke apart Southwest
By Katherine Vogt
Associated Press
October 11, 2002

DENVER (AP) - A fireball was observed Monday racing across the skies over
central Colorado toward New Mexico.

Howard Cook, chief technologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science,
was driving from Denver to Colorado Springs Monday evening when he saw a
bright light in the sky for eight to 20 seconds. He said it appeared to be
flaring, and was about as big as a softball relative to his outstretched
arm.

"You had this great green fireball and tail with orange sparks coming off of
it," Cook said. "It was very, very spectacular."

Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico detected
sonic evidence that a meteor may have entered the atmosphere Monday evening
in northern New Mexico.

Eyewitnesses in Los Alamos and Ponderosa said they saw the bright light for
about five seconds and heard a sonic boom at about 7:30 p.m., said lab
spokesman James Rickman.

Scientists believe a fireball the previous day that lit up the skies of at
least three states came down over western Colorado, and they are asking
residents and hunters to watch for strange-looking rocks that might be
meteorites.

The meteorite research team at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science said
Tuesday that eyewitness accounts have led them to believe the meteor
observed Sunday evening broke apart in an area of northwestern Colorado
roughly flanked by Meeker, Rangely, Fruita and the Utah border.

The bright object, which had a tail of green and orange flames, was visible
across Colorado, southeastern Utah and southern Wyoming. More than 600
reports about the event have been sent to museum scientists, including some
accounts from as far away as Idaho and Kansas.

Jack Murphy, curator of geology at the Denver museum, said he did not know
whether the two meteors were related. Neither is believed to be part of a
meteor shower, he said.

"These are random fireballs. They can occur at any time," he said. "To have
two in a row is very unusual, but we really can't say they're related."

Sunday's fireball may have been part of an asteroid that broke away from its
belt and entered the Earth's atmosphere, Murphy said.

Fragments of space debris hurtle into the atmosphere, producing streaks of
light known as meteors. The objects may burn up during entry or break apart,
sending small pieces called meteorites to the ground.

Murphy said recovery of any meteorites that landed in Western Colorado would
be a boon to scientists studying the composition of objects from space.

He said area residents or hunters should look for odd rocks such as those
with a ceramic-like surface though the rugged, sparsely populated terrain
makes it unlikely something will be found.

"If they see a black rock that looks very out of place that wasn't there
before, then they might have found a freshly fallen meteorite," he said.

"They carry quite a lesson in the history of the solar system and they come
to us free of charge."

On the Net:

Denver Museum: http://www.dmns.org
Received on Fri 11 Oct 2002 12:39:27 PM PDT