[meteorite-list] Hegins, PA report

From: Don Giovanni <grigaro_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:50:09 -1000
Message-ID: <831DDD67-A6AE-4BAD-A6AE-145C9B2C57F0_at_operamail.com>

BY VICKI TERWILLIGER (EDITOR VICKI-T at CITIZENSTANDARD.COM)
Published: August 12, 2010

HEGINS - An uninvited "guest" apparently made a stop at the home of Ralph Lucht, of Hegins.

Lucht believes a meteorite may have struck his Pine Drive home sometime during the end of July or beginning of August.

What is evident is a section of his asphalt roof and white flashing of his home has been damaged and a ragged piece of the metal flashing remains. The metal looks like it may have suffered a tremendous force or heat, because it is peeled outward several inches. A cable to a lighting rod on the roof was also severed as an item apparently fell from high above, Lucht said, and grazed the edge of the cable. As the suspected projectile left the roof area, it barely missed entering the roof of an upstairs bedroom, and then landed in a solid concrete patio surrounding Lucht's pool.

The indentation left in the concrete measures about one-inch by one-inch wide, and is about 1/2-inch deep. Inside the hole in the concrete there are rusty-colored flecks of material.

"The flecks were magnetized. It had to be a projectile," Lucht said. "I looked around for parts, but didn't find any," he said of whatever had made the depression in his patio. The family did not hear anything, but recently noticed the damage when they went outside. Lucht does not believe the damage could have been caused by a stray bullet.

His home is in a mountainous region in a wooded area in Hegins Township, but there are no neighboring homes in close proximity to his house. Hegins Township had no other recent reports of any damage like that, according to Supervisor Vicki Harman.

According to Mark Klein, a webmaster from the National Weather Service, his agency does not track meteorites, or meteor showers. Klein referred anyone inquiring about meteorites to visit the website www.spaceweather.com, or search other internet resources. This time of year is favorable for meteor showers, the sites seem to indicate.

The spaceweather website lists that "Earth's magnetic field is still reverberating from (an) impact of August 3, which sparked auroras as far south as Wisconsin and Iowa in the U.S."

"This week, Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent of the annual Perseid meteor shower. . .The shower won't peak until Aug. 12 and 13 when we're much deeper inside. Nevertheless, sky watchers are already seeing some early Perseids." From 3 a.m. to dawn is the best time-frame to witness the meteor showers, the site suggests.

Another resource, operated by the International Meteor Organization (IMO), at www.imo.net shares further details.

The IMO site explains that the "Perseids" (meteor showers) are able to be seen this time of year. "The Perseids are one of the most exciting and dynamic meteor showers; producing fast-moving shooting stars through July and August. Based on IMO observations from recent years, we expect the 'normal peak of (about) 100 meteors per hour' to occur in the night of August 12-13. . ."

The IMO was founded in 1988 and has more than 250 members, according to the site. "IMO was created in response to an ever growing need for international cooperation of meteor amateur work. The collection of meteor observations by several methods from all around the world ensures the comprehensive study of meteor showers and their relation to comets and interplanetary dust."
Received on Tue 17 Aug 2010 06:50:09 AM PDT