[meteorite-list] 2nd Neuschwanstein fragment - translation

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:10 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4EBFB_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi All,

Thanks Marco for the link (http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/HofW/) describing the
second fragment of Neuschwantstein that was found! For those (including
myself) who cannot read German, here's my best hack at a translation using
Babelfish as a front end, and then cleaning it up the English as best I
coud. Apologies in advance for any errors in translation that I may
have introduced:


Friday, 25 July 2003 (KW of 30/2003): Highlight NR. 186
Second meteorite find of Neuschwanstein stone

[Color photo of 2nd Neuschwanstein meteorite]

Due to precise computations by German planetary science researchers, a
further meteorite in southern Germany was found. The space body is about
as big as a fist, weighs 1.63 kilograms and has a few rust spots. The
scientifically valuable extraterrestrial fragment is part of the larger
meteoroid (estimated to weigh 300 kilograms) which streaked across
southern Bavaria on 6 April 2002. Since this event was photographed
by several specialized cameras of the German Center for Air and Space
Travel (DLR) in Western Europe, the impact area could be computed
relatively exactly.

In the spring of 2002, DLR researchers began a systematic search for
pieces of meteorite based on those computations, and on 14 July 2002 the
first fragment was found. The meteorite was named "Neuschwanstein" after
the well-known Bavarian castle only 6 km from the discovery site. (See
DLR press release NR. 20/2002 of the 30.07.2002)

Based on computations by DLR, it is estimated that some 20 kilograms of
the original 300 kg meteoroid reached the ground. The majority of those
meteorites were expected to fall in a relatively limited area of about
one square kilometer; [unfortunately] this area in southern Germany, east
of Schwangau, is difficult to access.

The new meteorite find, paired to the original Neuschwantein stone, landed
about 1500 meters east of DLR's estimated target for the bulk of the
meteorites. It was discovered on 27 May 2003 by two young men from Upper
Bavaria, who had spent several weeks in the target area searching for
meteorite fragments.

The piece found probably hit with high speed, about 250 km/h, as it was
found in a pit 5-cm deep. Since the meteorite had been lying in damp
mountain forest soil for more than a year, it had developed rusty
spots, pointing to "eisenhaltiges material" (iron?), <how was already
determined with the first piece of find>. DLR planetary scientists
from Berlin [eagle yard] arranged to have the new find examined
chemically and petrologically to confirm that it was paired to the
original Neuschwanstein find.

Preliminary measurements carried out at the Heidelberg Max-Planck Institute
for Nuclear Physics removed any doubt that the two fragments are related,
and that they both came from the 6 April 2002 bolide. The spatial proximity
of both places of discovery confirms that the flightpaths of the meteor
fragments were correctly computed. DLR researchers are confident that the
remaining bulk of the meteorite, estimated at 7 to 10 kilograms, will
eventually be found.

Meanwhile, scientific work on the Neuschwanstein meteorites is
<provisionally
locked> ???, which was found more than one year ago. The extraterrestrial
fragment can now be visited in the Rieskrater Museum in Noerdlingen.

Information in this highlight comes from Dr. Juergen Colonel and Dieter
Heinlein from the Institute for Planetary Research of the DLR. Dr. Colonel
is the scientific leader, Dieter Heinlein the technical co-ordinator of the
European Fireball Network.
Received on Tue 29 Jul 2003 09:10:05 PM PDT