[meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide
From: mexicodoug at aim.com <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:17:34 -0400 Message-ID: <8CAAF81156EF61E-1C04-1B06_at_FWM-D44.sysops.aol.com> 'There are a lot of ghosts on the internet.' Hi Sterling, Yes, but it would be nicer to find a Friendly Ghost, like tis one (Thuathe): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2911269.stm Best wishes, Doug Meteor caused Lesotho 'poltergeist' By David Ambrose BBC Focus On Africa magazine Some 400 mystery rocks were collected. An outbreak of ghost activity that struck Lesotho last year has been found to have been the result of a spectacular meteor shower. On 21 July, a loud noise in the sky was heard over most of the country. Then in the village of Boqate Ha Sofonia, objects began to fall on the roofs of houses. 'Malino Mantsoe, one of the village residents, saw a large stone smash into the low-walled cooking area in front of her house, before knocking over and cracking a plastic container. She blamed a "thokolosi" - a poltergeist - and sprinkled holy water around her house and on the stone. No more stones fell. 'Matukule Khoeletsana, another resident, also had stones bounce on her roof - and kept them to prove it was no bad dream. Investigation Now the cause of the mystery rocks has been found to have been a meteorite. A rock weighing perhaps a tonne, which had been circling the sun for 4,600 million years, had finally intercepted another body in the solar system - the Earth. It arrived at perhaps 50 to 100 times the speed of sound, and hitting the atmosphere at this speed, exploded into thousands of pieces which had fallen to earth over nine different villages. A team from the National University of Lesotho went to investigate, and with the help of schoolchildren and local residents collected over 400 different stones ranging from just a few grams to over a kilogram. There were a number of champion collectors, including a well-known local youth nicknamed Ramanaka, or "Father of Horns", because of his head-dress decorated with horns and a portrait of Nelson Mandela. The Thuathe meteorite, as it has been christened, has ensured that Lesotho will now have a place in the science of meteoritics. A full version of this article appears in the new edition of the Focus on Africa magazine.. BBC Focus On Africa magazine > that must be a ghost... you are following, I think. There are a lot of ghosts on the internet. Sterling K. Webb --------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:49 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow,bright Mediterranean bolide Hi Sterling, listees, I believe Rob has suggested that this rocket part (3rd booster stage) has re-entered in the reported event, so that must be a ghost on the on-line satellite tracking program you are following, I think. The satellite itself is probably quite operational at the moment. Anyway, let me take this opportunity to correct the time of the event today July 8 2008 from incorectly 5:15 UT to corectly 17:15 UT. Just a little excitement as I was hearing about this... Best wishes, Doug still can't believe how fast Rob got that one ... -----Original Message----- From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net> To: Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites at cox.net>; mexicodoug at aim.com; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com Sent: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 7:41 pm Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide Hi, List, You can watch it in realtime position at: http://www.n2yo.com/?s=31602 So, why was it leaving a luminous trail: "a bright object that left a long trail"? Hmmm. Answering my own question, it is listed as one of "satellites with periodically varying brightness." It must have "flashed." Sterling K. Webb ---------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:15 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide Hi List, Rob, and everyone who held their breath on this one, Please read the other half of the story - from none other than our favorite satellite and comet bagger, Rob Matson !!! Best wishes and better luck next time:( Doug PS God help us if Rob ever defects ... thanks again and I trust it was good work! =========================== Hi Doug, Please feel free to forward this to the Meteorite list for me... I just did a quick check on this, suspecting it might be a satellite re-entry. ... it was travelling east-to-west!", let me add that it was actually ~because~ it was travelling east to west AND passing over Israel that a lightbulb went off in my head. Israeli satellites are always launched in retrograde orbits, and I thought it would be an amusing case of karma if this turned out to be one of their own. Well, in short, it was: Shavit R/B, USSPACECOM #31602, launched some time in 2007. I just plotted its trajectory as seen from Jerusalem, and bingo. --Rob ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list -----Original Message----- From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; mexicodoug at aim.com Sent: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 9:02 pm Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow,bright Mediterranean bolide > that must be a ghost... you are following, I think. There are a lot of ghosts on the internet. Sterling K. Webb --------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:49 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow,bright Mediterranean bolide Hi Sterling, listees, I believe Rob has suggested that this rocket part (3rd booster stage) has re-entered in the reported event, so that must be a ghost on the on-line satellite tracking program you are following, I think. The satellite itself is probably quite operational at the moment. Anyway, let me take this opportunity to correct the time of the event today July 8 2008 from incorectly 5:15 UT to corectly 17:15 UT. Just a little excitement as I was hearing about this... Best wishes, Doug still can't believe how fast Rob got that one ... -----Original Message----- From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net> To: Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites at cox.net>; mexicodoug at aim.com; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com Sent: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 7:41 pm Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide Hi, List, You can watch it in realtime position at: http://www.n2yo.com/?s=31602 So, why was it leaving a luminous trail: "a bright object that left a long trail"? Hmmm. Answering my own question, it is listed as one of "satellites with periodically varying brightness." It must have "flashed." Sterling K. Webb ---------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:15 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide Hi List, Rob, and everyone who held their breath on this one, Please read the other half of the story - from none other than our favorite satellite and comet bagger, Rob Matson !!! Best wishes and better luck next time:( Doug PS God help us if Rob ever defects ... thanks again and I trust it was good work! =========================== Hi Doug, Please feel free to forward this to the Meteorite list for me... I just did a quick check on this, suspecting it might be a satellite re-entry. ... it was travelling east-to-west!", let me add that it was actually ~because~ it was travelling east to west AND passing over Israel that a lightbulb went off in my head. Israeli satellites are always launched in retrograde orbits, and I thought it would be an amusing case of karma if this turned out to be one of their own. Well, in short, it was: Shavit R/B, USSPACECOM #31602, launched some time in 2007. I just plotted its trajectory as seen from Jerusalem, and bingo. --Rob ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list Received on Tue 08 Jul 2008 10:17:34 PM PDT |
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