[meteorite-list] Astronomers spot meteor streaking across central Ontario sky

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:19:49 -0500
Message-ID: <ab14t3tho91lvbf7ujutpj7fjoat3m4av8_at_4ax.com>

Forwarded for Mike Farmer:

"Fantastic video, location seems to be on the lake, but certainly meteorites on
the ground."

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gt_YerXMhIvy9kRLhnjkAPzJLoog

Astronomers spot meteor streaking across central Ontario sky
8 hours ago

TORONTO ? Science buffs in central Ontario may be able to score a celestial
souvenir after researchers at the University of Western Ontario reported that a
blazing meteor captured on video may have fallen to Earth this week along the
shore of Georgian Bay.

On Wednesday night at 10:59 p.m. EST, the university's Physics and Astronomy
Department's network of all-sky cameras - stationed across southern Ontario -
picked up images of a large fireball streaking across the sky.

"It's certainly the largest (meteor) we've seen yet on the network,"
post-doctorate astronomy student Wayne Edwards said in an interview Friday from
his office in London, Ont.

"We have something like 800 (or) 900 meteors in our database. This is certainly
the largest we've seen so far. In that sense, it's very rare."

Meteors, often called shooting stars or falling stars, appear when particles or
chunks of metallic or stony matter enter Earth's atmosphere from space. Air
friction heats the meteor so it glows and creates a shining trail of gases and
particles. Meteors that reach Earth's surface are called meteorites.

Associate professor Peter Brown, who specializes in the study of meteors and
meteorites, said the department has received a number of calls and e-mails from
people who saw the shooting star.

People also report hearing meteors as they descend through the atmosphere,
Edwards said, with many likening the noise to thunder followed by a whistling
sound.

Brown and Edwards are now trying to find people who are willing to help search
for the meteorite or meteorites.

"If you find something, it's technically yours as long as you didn't pick it up
off somebody else's property," Edwards said.

"But we certainly would be interested if somebody does find something if they
donate it for a little while to the university so we could do some studies on
it."

Edwards said based on projections, the meteor spotted Wednesday night appears to
have landed just offshore in the area of Parry Sound, Ont.

"There's the potential that the bay is actually frozen over," he said. "There's
a non-negligible chance that there's meteorites probably sitting on top of the
ice."

However, he warned amateur astronomers to remember to put their own safety
first.

"It is winter and there may be ice, but I'm certainly not advocating people go
running out on the ice and endangering themselves," he said.

Edwards said meteorites can be distinguished from ordinary rocks by their satin
sheen and higher density, meaning a meteorite of similar size to an Earth rock
would be heavier. He added that another telltale feature of meteorites is that
most are magnetic.

While meteorites are safe to touch, they tend to deteriorate if they come into
excessive contact with natural oils from human hands, Edwards said.

The lab has narrowed down the location where the meteorite would have fallen to
an area of about 12 square kilometres, and they've created a map to help in the
search.

"We would love to find a recovered meteorite on this one, because we have the
video and we have the data, and by putting that together with the meteorite,
there is a lot to be learned," Edwards said
Received on Fri 07 Mar 2008 10:19:49 PM PST