[meteorite-list] New Australian fall

From: Norbert & Heike Kammel <meteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:21:33 +1000
Message-ID: <4AB407ED.40409_at_optushome.com.au>

The fall actually happened in 2007, Meteoritical Bulletin: MB 95
<http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/docs/mb95.pdf> .
I heard of it in February this year.
The location is between Mundrabilla and Cook 001. Coordinates are 31?
21.0'S, 129? 11.4'E, that means 168.6 km east of Mundrabilla and 170.9
km south west of cook 001.
Unfortunately no fragments have been available for collectors.

Cheers, and best regards from Down-Under,

Norbert Kammel
IMCA # 3420


Matt Morgan wrote:
> Looks like a nice eucrite. Similar to Camel Donga.
> Matt
> ----------------------
> Matt Morgan
> Mile High Meteorites
> http://www.mhmeteorites.com
> P.O. Box 151293
> Lakewood, CO 80215 USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net>
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:51:04
> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] New Australian fall
>
>
> http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/rare-snapshot-of-solar-systems-dawn-20090918-fvcl.html
>
> Rare snapshot of solar system's dawn
> DEBORAH SMITH SCIENCE EDITOR
> September 19, 2009
>
> CAMERAS set up in outback Australia to track fireballs across the night sky have
> led scientists to a rare meteorite formed at the dawn of the solar system.
>
> The fiery streak it made on descent allowed them not only to pinpoint where it
> would fall on the vast Nullarbor Plain, but also work out where it had come
> from.
>
> Three fragments of the meteorite, the biggest the size of a cricket ball, were
> found within 100 metres of the predicted landing site, Alex Bevan, head of earth
> and planetary science at the Western Australian Museum, said. ''That is
> incredible accuracy.''
>
> Dr Bevan said the Nullarbor desert was chosen for a new fireball observatory
> because of its pale limestone colour. ''Most meteorites are dark so they
> contrast well with the local rock.''
>
> Dubbed Bunburra Rockhole after a nearby landmark, the meteorite was found on the
> first day of searching by the international team, which includes researchers
> from the Perth museum and CSIRO.
>
> Meteorites are among the most studied rocks on Earth, the team leader, Philip
> Bland, of the Imperial College in London, said. ''But it's really rare for us to
> be able to tell where they came from.''
>
> Based on its unusual basalt composition and trajectory, the researchers believe
> the Nullarbor meteorite was once part of an asteroid in the innermost side of
> the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, until a collision chipped it off
> millions of years ago.
>
> It then moved into an orbit around the sun similar to that of Earth, before
> plummeting to the ground on July 20, 2007.
>
> Weighing about 22 kilograms when it began its fiery descent at an altitude of 60
> kilometres, only fragments of less than 200 grams were left when it hit.
>
> ''We're cautiously optimistic that this find could be the first of many, and if
> that happens, each find may give us more clues about how the solar system
> began,'' Dr Bland, whose team's study was published yesterday in the journal
> Science, said.
>
> Asteroids in the innermost belt are thought to have formed near the sun and
> consist of the same material from which the earth was made.
>
> The fireball observatory consists of a network of four cameras that take a
> single time-lapse picture every night to track any shooting stars, and complex
> mathematics is required to determine a meteorite's original orbit.
>
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Received on Fri 18 Sep 2009 06:21:33 PM PDT