[meteorite-list] pondering the displayed position versus angle of descent

From: Michael Murray <mmurray_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:14:25 -0600
Message-ID: <33D76C05-C7AD-4DBB-818C-5AAEA67869E9_at_montrose.net>

Hi all,
When studying the photos of the 10-ton Morito iron, as it is
displayed in Palacio de Mineria, I'm wondering if it is displayed in
the position in which it fell to the ground, or would one be inclined
to think it would have came down on a fair angle (between 30 and 60
degrees to vertical? I like how it is displayed, don't get me
wrong. I think it's very impressive to see a nose cone shaped
meteorite displayed with nose down. (Please, that is not a dig at
anyone out there displaying them sitting on their top). For me, when
I can see one nose down, it makes it easier to visualize it coming in
on it's final leg of the journey. I can almost see the fire and
flames coming off the trailing edge. : )

The thing is, I'm just pondering the angle of the larger stones as
they are being displayed. When I look at pictures of Ahnighito for
example (I haven't seen it in person), I'm inclined, because of some
of the features I think I see in the pictures, to believe it could be
resting on one of its vertical sides. And then again, if it was
coming in at a pretty good angle of descent, how it is displayed may
be closer to the position it was actually in when it touched down.
What a thump that stone must have made when it hit.

Now to see if I can find out what ever happened to the four pieces of
Long Island 1,100 lb Stony. I think it would be interesting to try
to figure out how it was falling given the four pieces put together.
Anyone seen Long Island? Anyone? Anyone?

Mike
Received on Fri 30 Mar 2007 12:14:25 AM PDT