[meteorite-list] Limerick contest winner

From: Dark Matter <freequarks_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:17:38 -0600
Message-ID: <822da19a0907241517w1a70621eo610312c28a9995b1_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi All,

I hope I'm not too late to jump in to this contest.

Here's my Limerick. I know its not much, only 6.9 grams, but hey, it
did fall 196 years ago!

http://www.geocities.com/planetwhy/limerick.jpg


Here's some great text from Peter Marmet's great website at

http://www.marmet-meteorites.com/id10.html

about the fall of the Limerick meteorite.


Fall of the Limerick meteorite, narrative of an eyewitness:

Friday morning, the 10th of September 1813, being very calm and
serene, and the sky clear, about nine o'clock, a cloud appeared in the
east, and very soon after I heard eleven distinct reports appearing to
proceed thence, somewhat resembling the discharge of heavy artillery.
Immediately after this followed a considerable noise not unlike the
beating of a large drum, which was succeeded by an uproar resembling
the continued discharge of musketry in line. The sky above the place
whence this noise appeared to issue became darkened and very much
disturbed, making a hissing noise, and from thence appeared to issue
with great violence different masses of matter, which directed their
course with great velocity in a horizontal direction towards the west.
One of these was observed to descend; it fell to the earth, and sank
into it more than a foot and a half, on the lands of Scagh, in the
neighbourhood of Patrick's Well, in the county of Limerick.

It was immediately dug up, and I have been informed by those that were
present, and on whom I could rely, that it was then warm and had a
sulphurous smell. It weighed about 17 lb., and had no appearance of
having been fractured in any part, for the whole of its surface was
uniformly smooth and black, as if affected by sulphur or gunpowder.

Six or seven more of the same kind of masses, but smaller, and
fractured, as if shattered from each other or from larger ones,
descended at the same time with great velocity in different places
between the lands of Scagh and the village of Adare.

One more very large mass passed with great rapidity and considerable
noise at a small distance from me; it came to the ground on the lands
of Brasky, and penetrated a very hard and dry earth about 2 feet. This
was not taken up for two days; it appeared to be fractured in many
places, add weighed about 65 lb.! Its shape was rather round, but
irregular.

N. S. Maskelyne, "Lecture Notes on Meteorites", Nature, 1875, vol. 12
(XII). p. 485 (text abridged).


Cheers,

Martin
Received on Fri 24 Jul 2009 06:17:38 PM PDT