[meteorite-list] Meteor's Appearance Over Wisconsin A Hot Topic

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Jan 6 12:37:44 2005
Message-ID: <41DD776F.3000208_at_fascination.com>

Dear Ron, List;
I see this one sticking point over and over and over again!
Could someone Please contact Jessica Bock and tell her meteorites in
general public's concept/ definition of what it takes to be
"magnetic"....are not magnetic. Yes maybe a tiny tiny amount but
possibly in nano- goss, alas, to the common miss conception, car engine
blocks and meteorites are not magnetic. Show me an iron meteorite, or
a chondrite meteorite that will stick to the refrigerator door, or even
pick up a stick pin.

To quote a familiar list member: "BAH!".

I saw the magnetic issue being promoted by NASA's Space Grant traveling
space rock program two years ago here in Wyoming. Pretty soon all will
be poisoned to the magnetic thing as they are from other media's
promoting the catching the grass and woods on fire issue.
Another hole not to fall in, Richard Slaughter's comment, "of the
thousands that have fallen in Wisconsin, Slaughter estimated that a few
hundred have been found." So much for what U of W at Madison geology
department would know. My copy of Catalogue of Meteorites Fifth Edition
notes 12....where are the other's all in shoe boxes under beds....or in
closets that are locked up at U of W Madison geology department?
I am truly sorry but the attack of academia turns macadamia AGAIN!
 Please feel free to forward to any academia that thinks he knows all
about meteorites!
Sincerely,
Dave F.

Ron Baalke wrote:

>
>http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/310950594263925.shtml
>
>Meteor's appearance a hot topic
>By Jessica Bock
>Wausau Daily Herald (Wisconsin)
>January 6, 2005
>
>Seeing a meteor is a rare occurrence, although that could be what caught
>the attention of thousands of north central Wisconsin residents Tuesday
>night with a bright flash of light and explosive sound.
>
>Astronomy buffs and residents were buzzing Wednesday about what they had
>heard and seen at about 6:15 p.m. the night before. And by early
>Wednesday, a story about the meteor report already was posted on
>meteoritecentral.com, a Web site that tracks occurrences all around the
>world.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>About meteors
>
>o A meteoroid is a small object traveling through space. It could have
>once been part of an asteroid, a comet, the moon or a planet.
>
>o A shooting star occurs when a meteoroid enters the atmosphere. As the
>object falls, it heats up from the friction against the air and begins
>to burn.
>
>o Meteor showers occur when the dust particles from an aged comet pass
>through the Earth's atmosphere. These small particles zip toward the
>Earth and burn up, creating a "shower" of shooting stars.
>
>o A meteor is the bright fireball seen when a sizeable meteoroid enters
>the Earth's atmosphere and begins to burn.
>
>o A meteorite has traveled through the atmosphere and landed on Earth.
>Seeing a meteorite land is extremely rare.
>
>Is it a meteorite?
>
>Your suspected space rock could be a meteorite if it fits the following
>criteria:
>
>o It is heavy compared with most rocks.
>
>o It is rusty brown or black.
>
>o It has a rusty brown to black fusion crust.
>
>o It is solid and lacks bubble holes.
>
>o The exterior of the stone looks smooth or has rounded edges. It has
>what looks like shallow thumbprints on its surface.
>
>o It is magnetic.
>
>o You actually saw the rock hit the ground.
>
>Source: http://www.meteoritecentral.com
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Experts and authorities say it likely was a meteor. Meteors pass through
>the atmosphere regularly, but most are too small to be noticeable.
>
>Jim Lewis and his wife were eating dinner at their home in Merrill when
>they heard it.
>
>He thought it was a sonic boom. She thought it was thunder. When they
>found out it likely was a meteor, they both wished they had seen it.
>"I think it's kind of a hot item to talk about. It's very uncommon to
>see something and hear something that is this dramatic," said Lewis, who
>has been interested in astronomy for the past 60 years. He is a program
>coordinator with a Merrill group of amateur astronomers known as "Stars
>R Us."
>
>The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department received its first call
>reporting the meteor from the town of Harrison. Reports then came in
>from all over the county and totaled 50 by the end of the night, the
>Sheriff's Department said. The Merrill Police Department and the Oneida,
>Taylor, Price, Portage, Marathon and Langlade county sheriff's
>departments all took calls from residents who had heard the boom or seen
>a flash of light.
>
>Mike Breunling, chief meteorologist at WSAW-TV 7, said Tuesday evening
>that the noise and flash of light likely were not weather related. The
>National Weather Service could not find anything happening in the
>atmosphere that might have caused it, he said. The Federal Aviation
>Administration, which took a report from a pilot outside of Sioux Falls,
>S.D., about bright flashes of light, also ruled out aircraft problems or
>military flight tests.
>
>Jim Lattis, the director of the University of Wisconsin Space Place in
>Madison, heard about the incident Wednesday morning on the radio.
>
>"It's all consistent with a bright meteor," Lattis said. "I can't think,
>really, of any alternative."
>
>Meteors will break apart and explode in the sky, which might have caused
>the booming noise, he said.
>
>It's possible that pieces of the meteorite are scattered somewhere in
>central Wisconsin, Lattis said.
>
>"They never really are found unless they hit something or land in
>someone's yard," he said.
>
>People who find meteorites can usually sell them, said Richard
>Slaughter, the director of the UW-Madison Geology Museum, which has five
>meteorites on display, including one that landed near Colby. The
>meteorites at the museum were found decades ago in Wisconsin.
>"Meteorites are fairly hot commodities," he said.
>
>Out of the thousands of meteorites that have fallen in Wisconsin
>throughout time, Slaughter estimated that only a few hundred have been
>found.
>
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>
Received on Thu 06 Jan 2005 12:37:51 PM PST