[meteorite-list] How far away can a meteor be heard?

From: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: 09 Jul 2009 15:56:58 UT
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000009F00003DAD_at_paulinet.de>

Hello List,

Here's what Buchwald wrote about the Treysa meteorite fall in 1916:

BUCHWALD V.F. (1975) Handbook of Iron Meteorites, Vol. 3, pp. 1232-1235):

A mass of 63.28 kg fell April 3, 1916 at 15:25 hrs (14:25 hrs Greenwhich time).
Numerous eyewitnesses saw a fireball that moved, in four seconds, with an average
(geocentric) velocity of 16.3 km/s in a trajectory inclined 55? to the horizontal from
N 15? W to S 15? E. The intensity of the light from the fireball gradually decreased
until it disappeared at the unusually low altitude of 16.4 km. The heliocentric velocity
was calculated to be 37.5 km/s corresponding to an elliptic orbit within the solar system.
Due to fine weather the meteorite was observed from an area 135 km in radius. The whole
train, 81 km long, was visible as a whitish band that slowly became blurred until it vanished
after 10 minutes. Eyewitnesses within a radius of 50 km heard a detonation a few minutes
after the fireball had disappeared, and some witnesses near the end point of the trajectory
allegedly observed a black body falling.

Good luck to all those
trying to hunt it down,

Bernd
Received on Thu 09 Jul 2009 11:56:58 AM PDT