[meteorite-list] When is a fall...?

From: Mark Crawford <mark_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:39:21 +0100
Message-ID: <49F374F9.6020807_at_meteorites.cc>

I read a definition of a fall as being where the meteor is 'usually seen
as a fireball' before it lands and is recovered. Obviously, I thought,
it needs to be seen burning up - that's the very definition of a fall.

I then considered that the definition would strictly be 'observed' to
fall. One could imagine a scenario where an object may not be witnessed
by the human eye, but which were otherwise recorded. *Pribram and
*Innisfree were recorded photographically; Pribram and (I think)
Innisfree were also witnessed by eye, but if they hadn't been I'd still
call them falls.

Then I wondered about 2008 TC3. It was observed and projected to impact
earth, the landing area was calculated. Material was recovered. Now if
the KLM pilot hadn't seen the fireball, and if the putative Meteosat
image (*http://tinyurl.com/d4sna5) *hadn't appeared - would this still
be classed as a fall?

When is a fall not a fall? :)

Mark
**

-- 
Mark's Meteorite Pages: http://meteorites.cc

Received on Sat 25 Apr 2009 04:39:21 PM PDT