[meteorite-list] Meteor Brightens Skies From Colorado To Nebraska

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:08:22 2004
Message-ID: <200209090129.SAA17829_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E845005%257E,00.html

Meteor brightens skies from Colorado to Nebraska
By Jim Kehl
Denver Post
September 8, 2002

Witnesses from many parts of
Colorado and Nebraska reported seeing a long, bright fireball
streaking through the sky Friday night.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science confirmed the fireball
was a meteor, which fell to the Earth about 8:30 p.m., according to
researcher Andy Caldwell.

Although people all over the state saw the meteor travel from
roughly the area around Steamboat Springs to Nebraska, it may not
have even been over Colorado at all.

"That's a strong misconception people often have," Caldwell said.
"They see something go behind a building and think it fell there."

Meteors fall to the Earth at anywhere from 25,000 to 45,000 mph,
depending on their angle. They become visible to ground observers
when they reach altitudes where the atmosphere becomes thicker,
usually between 11 to 20 miles above the Earth's surface. Below that
level, the atmosphere slows them down, and meteorites stop
glowing long before they hit the ground.

The meteor may have been as far north as Wyoming, Caldwell said.

Because of the extreme forces and temperatures meteors experience
as they travel through the atmosphere, they usually break into smaller
pieces.

Some witness accounts of Friday night's fireball describe this
phenomenon.

"Chances are, if any pieces of the meteorite did make it to the
ground, it would be in Nebraska or possibly even South Dakota,"
Caldwell said.

Over the next few weeks, researchers will sift through the many
witness accounts of the meteor, interview residents in the area who
may have seen the fireball, attempt to plot its path through the sky
and possibly even determine where the meteorite fell.

However, the chances of finding it are small.

Meteorites are usually about the size of a baseball or smaller, and
after the researchers complete their work, they will have narrowed
the meteorite's landing zone down to few square miles, according to
Caldwell.

"It could have fallen on some guy's farm," Caldwell said. "He might
find it years later."

The research team is not taking phone calls, but requests that
witnesses fill out an Internet fireball report form at:
www.cloudbait.com/science/fireballs.html.
Received on Sun 08 Sep 2002 09:29:52 PM PDT