[meteorite-list] Mission for Meteorites Descends on Drayton, Canada

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jul 19 14:42:31 2005
Message-ID: <200507191841.j6JIfgK22812_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/story.php?id=173088

Mission for meteorites descends on Drayton
Courtney Whalen
Drayton Vally Western Review (Canada)
July 20, 2005

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? It
probably wasn't Superman, but maybe it was a meteorite. Local residents
wondering about strange rocks found on their property will get the
chance to see if it really is something from space when the prairie
meteorite search stops in Drayton Valley.

The search, put on by the University of Calgary, is in its sixth year
and will be setting up shop in Drayton Valley in the hopes of
discovering meteorites that have dropped into unsuspecting fields in the
area. The project travels to rural communities throughout the Prairies
examining objects brought in by local residents (especially farmers),
hoping to find specimens of meteors.

This summer the university's meteor man is Tom Weedmark and he will be
heading to the Drayton Valley Municipal Library Aug. 5 from 1-5 p.m.

He said the point of the project is to get the public's help in locating
possible meteorites that the university can then study. Rural prairie
communities and especially farmers are one of the main groups he hopes
to target because he feels they have the best chance of finding meteorites.

"Farmers have big plots of land and they're out there working it all the
time," said Weedmark. "They are out there picking up rocks and throwing
them off the fields and they know the area too, they know the land they
have and know what something odd might look like."

He said the open house on Aug. 5 will give people who have discovered
something on their land that they think might be a meteorite to bring it
in for positive identification.

"We'll identify what they have and if we think they have a meteorite
we'll take it back to the university and do some tests," he said. "We"ll
find out if it is (a meteorite) and what kind it is."

Weedmark said if the rock is identified as a meteorite, it will be
returned to the person who brought it in, although the university will
retain a small portion to examine. He also said those involved in the
project can explain what options are available to the owner, whether
they wish to sell the meteorite, donate it somewhere or simply keep it.

As well as being a discovery mission for the university, Weedmark said
anyone with an interest in learning more about meteorites is welcome to
come in and talk to him.

Meteorites come in three types: stony meteorites, which are the most
common, can often look like certain types of regular rocks, but are
generally more dense. Iron meteorites are made mostly of iron and nickel
and so are usually very heavy for their size, have irregular shapes and
a strong attraction for magnets. The rarest form of meteorite is the
stony/iron variety, which are either made of greenish-yellow crystals or
chunks and veins of metal, basaltic achondrite and glassy material.

Anyone who thinks they may have found a meteorite but is unable to
attend the Aug. 5 open house can contact Weedmark at 403-852-5613, or
professor Alan Hildebrand (who heads up the project) at the University
of Calgary at 403-220-2291.
Received on Tue 19 Jul 2005 02:41:42 PM PDT