[meteorite-list] Possible Meteorite Found On Golf Course In Illinois

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Sep 14 13:41:00 2006
Message-ID: <4509942C.1080209_at_fascination.com>

Mmm........a burn mark....and lavender colored........cool! ;-)
Dave F.

Ron Baalke wrote:

>http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/meteor14.html
>
>Possible meteorite found on golf course
>Chicago Sun-Times
>September 14, 2006
>
>The cosmos must have been playing a game of golf in Aurora.
>
>Defying what a local science professor calls "astronomical odds," what
>appears to be a pea-sized meteorite was found this summer on the green
>at the 14th hole at the Aurora Country Club.
>
>"The odds of anybody finding something like this around here or anywhere
>is pretty remote," said Mark Horrell, who has a PhD in geophysical
>science and teaches astronomy and astrophysics at the Illinois
>Mathematics and Science Academy.
>
>On Wednesday, Horrell examined the extraterrestrial pebble and
>determined it "has all the hallmarks of a meteorite," but more
>conclusive tests will need to be conducted.
>
>Golf course grounds superintendant John Gurke found the meteorite while
>doing his normal early morning scouting for turf disease or "anything
>out of the ordinary" at the course on the southwest side of Aurora. From
>afar, he noticed a burn mark about five inches in diameter "dead center"
>of the green.
>
>At first, Gurke was peeved because he thought it was a urination stain
>from a coyote or fox. But as he got closer, he noticed a small hole in
>the center of the burn spot and dug out the spherical rock and some
>shrapnel.
>
>Gurke ran to his office and googled "meteorite."
>
>"It described exactly what I found," he said.
>
>Gurke's wife, Julie, who works at Aurora University, asked science
>professors there what they thought. Eventually, they referred the Gurkes
>to Horrell at IMSA, a residential high school in Aurora for some of the
>most gifted science students in the state.
>
>Horrell and Bob Brazzle, a physics teacher at IMSA, were star-struck
>when they realized the rock actually could be a meteorite.
>
>"A lot of people think they found one but it's actually a piece of
>limestone or something," Horrell said. "There's nothing I've ever seen
>like this."
>
>He said only about one in 1,000 suspected meteorites actually turn out
>to be meteorites.
>
>And Gurke's is on it's way to being one of them. The rock reacted to a
>magnet, meaning it has the high content of iron found in meteorites, and
>it came with a charred-looking outer crust showing that it cooled and
>recrystallized after being heated in the atmosphere, Brazzle said. The
>pea-sized pebble was made even smaller Wednesday, when it was cracked
>during testing.
>
>Horrell said its texture and dark lavender and metallic color is not
>like anything you'd expect to find naturally occurring in the Midwest.
>
>Both scientists said it's very rare to find a meteorite that small
>because they typically become camouflaged in the ground.
>
>"If it hadn't been on the green he probably wouldn't have found it,"
>Horrell said. He said most meteorites found are the size of a softball.
>
>Brazzle said it was possible more meteorites could be found in the area
>because meteorites don't typically fly solo.
>
>IMSA professors and students, and possibly professionals at the
>University of Illinois at Chicago, will do further testing on the
>meteorite. If it is in fact a meteorite, Brazzle said, it would likely
>be named "Aurora" after the place it was found.
>
>But since there might already be a meteorite with that name, "maybe
>they'll call it Aurora Country Club," Horrell joked.
>
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Received on Thu 14 Sep 2006 01:41:00 PM PDT