[meteorite-list] YAMAQMA subtitle:Possible Meteorite Lands In Fluvanna

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Sep 23 14:37:12 2006
Message-ID: <devah2tucji4c0avb3b8smffaihe9moghs_at_4ax.com>

Meaning "Yet Another Meteorwrong And Questionable Meteorite Authoity", of
course.

http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=7200

Possible Meteorite Lands In Fluvanna

By PATRICK L. FANELLI



9/23/2006 - FLUVANNA ? Fluvanna resident Brenda Barden doesn?t know for sure if
whatever left a smoldering hole in her backyard was a meteorite from outer
space.

It seems to be a pretty good guess, though.

??We think that?s what it was, or what was left of a falling star,?? said Ms.
Barden, a resident of Old Fluvanna Road.

Whatever it was left a hole roughly three feet deep and the size of a manhole in
her backyard a couple weeks ago and set fire to a tree trunk that was buried
underground. She said she smelled it during the night and thought a neighbor was
having a bonfire nearby ? but sure enough, there was a hole there the next day
that wasn?t there before.

??It left a big hole in our backyard,?? Ms. Barden said. ??The fire department
came and put it out. It had burned all night I guess.??

Gary Nelson, amateur astronomer and president of the Marshal Martz Memorial
Astronomical Association, said it might indeed have been a meteorite ? a piece
of rocky debris that penetrated the atmosphere and struck the surface of the
Earth.

??That?s not uncommon,?? Nelson said. ??Eventually, it burns down to the size of
a rock, but it hits with such an impact that it can leave a hole in ground.??

Meteoroids ? which are any sort of small debris in the solar system ? hit the
Earth?s atmosphere all the time at speeds of up to five miles or more a second,
though it is far less common for them to penetrate the atmosphere and reach the
Earth?s surface. It?s even less likely for anyone to notice.

??What they do is they hit our atmosphere, and what will happen is, if they
don't come in at a certain angle, it will skip like a stone going across water
and light up across the sky,?? Nelson said.

When the object leaves behind a fiery, glowing trail, they are referred to as
meteors or shooting stars, but when one reaches the ground, they are referred to
as meteorites. They don?t have to be very large to penetrate the atmosphere
without completely burning up, according to Nelson.

??If it hits the atmosphere at just the right angle, it doesn?t have to be very
large,?? he said.

Scientists estimate that 500 meteorites as small as a pebble and as big as a
soccer ball hit the ground every year, sometimes causing damage to property. In
fact, the famous 1908 Tunguska Event involved a meteorite or a small asteroid
causing an explosion in Siberia that was equivalent to roughly 10 megatons of
TNT and scorched an area 30 miles in diameter.

According to Nelson, if it really was a meteorite that caused the smoldering
hole in Ms. Barden?s backyard, it was certainly a noteworthy and rare
occurrence.

??It was probably burning about 18 to 20 hours. By that time, you couldn?t
really see anything. Everything was burnt,?? Ms. Barden said. ??(The fire
department) had no explanation. It was just a hole. It?s in the middle of
nowhere.??

Send comments to pfanelli_at_post-journal.com
Received on Sat 23 Sep 2006 02:36:50 PM PDT