[meteorite-list] West, Texas meteorite finds

From: ensoramanda at ntlworld.com <ensoramanda_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:18:57 +0000
Message-ID: <20090221121857.2ICGZ.620724.root_at_web04-winn.ispmail.private.ntl.com>

Quick...make an offer for the dog!

Thanks for the interesting update/report.

Graham Ensor UK

---- mexicodoug at aim.com wrote:
> Hello from Sunny Texas, under clear and starry-eyed skies at the moment,
>
> A few stones were found right at the time of the fall, however, they
> were not definitively identified as meteorites - though that was the
> suspicion and they were saved.
>
> We (Doug Dawn, Dmitry Sadilenko, Sergey Petukov) drove across the
> country and estimated the location of the strewn field within 48 hours
> of the event. With a bit of tenacity, scarcely four hours after the
> second day, thanks to the help of some Texas-sized hospitality, we
> arrived in the strewn field and found our first couple of stones and I
> had the distinct pleasure of shaking the finders hand and removing any
> lingering doubts in his mind that he had meteorites fresh from Heaven's
> farm.
>
> After the initial success, my good friend and asteroidhunter, Rob
> Matson of Los Angeles, joined up with the team. We have found some
> stones, but more are being found by others, and we really expect larger
> masses to be found, though hard work in the field definitely gets you
> wondering if just because such a meteoritical spectacle drops one
> stone, should it drop the thousands we keep expecting to see? The TKW
> is rapidly evolving, but the area is being hit quite hard by hunters
> already. This doesn't seem to be a dense fall, and some areas are very
> easy to search, though bramble in other areas effectively keeps those
> off limits. All land is private and most families keep their gun
> collections well oiled. In our case, the big-hearts of the landowners
> have humbled easily as much as the witness reports of the bolide's
> fragmenting itself. This is at odds with some other reports, only
> because residents of the area treasure their privacy and were
> completely overwhelmed by the wave of treasure hunters that descended.
> We almost lost our permission to hunt when they believed that we were
> somehow responsible for several meteorite hunters showing up with a
> news crews. Besides being quite busy, I promised to respect the
> anonymity of our hosts as a condition of our search, and this evening
> we reaped the benefits of a delicious home-cooked dinner prepared by
> the caring hands of our hosts at their dinner table. There is a great
> Texas steakhouse on I-35 which adds to the flavor for anyone wanting to
> experience Texas culture, cowboys and pretty cowgirls from West, TX.
>
> It has been an incredible last few days, which started by being the
> first to walk in a virgin strewn field, though my mother had some
> problems (she seems better now) that have somewhat muted what will
> undoubtedly be some of the most memorable moments of my life. It is way
> past bedtime and I will post more tomorrow. The meteorite itself is
> moderately to highly shocked and has a very bright, light, interior and
> veins of troilite and nodules of metal, and the majority of stones
> found are fully fusion crusted. More on the classification on Saturday.
> We certainly were not in a mass-laden portion of the strewn field,
> other hunters please take note; more likely just a place where a minor
> fragmentation impacted. In any case, we are committed to getting the
> science done so everyone else can rest assured that we have already
> gladly provided the mass requirements necessary for this honor.
>
> All in all, a very humbling experience for many reasons. To pick up a
> piece of a falling star and I thought, detect a faint sulfurous odor.
> It seems a dog even caught the scent of a meteorite and laid it down on
> the owners porch!
>
> Best wishes and clear skies
> Doug
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pat Branch <pat_branch at yahoo.com>
> To: drtanuki at yahoo.com; Global Meteor Observing Forum
> <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
> Sent: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 9:28 am
> Subject: Re: (meteorobs) West, Texas meteorite finds
>
>
> The University of North Texas Astronomers have found 4 so far. I saw a
> video clip of them. The biggest is about 3 times the others...just
> about palm sized.
>
> I think that is 4 for Farmer and 4 for UNT. I have not heard of other
> teams finding anything.
>
>
> --- In meteorobs at yahoogroups.com, drtanuki <drtanuki at ...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear List,
> > Here are the latest reports from the West, Texas fall.
> >
> > http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/
> >
> > Best Regards, Dirk Ross...Tokyo
> > _______________________________________________
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Received on Sat 21 Feb 2009 07:18:57 AM PST