[meteorite-list] Barwell, the Christmas Eve Meteorite
From: Larry Atkins <thetoprok_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:07:11 -0500 Message-ID: <8CD711E0744FBD9-DCC-147CE_at_web-mmc-d08.sysops.aol.com> Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Graham! And Barwell, too! Sincerely, Larry Atkins IMCA # 1941 Ebay username ?'alienrockfarm' -----Original Message----- From: e-mail ensoramanda <ensoramanda at ntlworld.com> To: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de Cc: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com Sent: Thu, Dec 23, 2010 5:01 pm Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Barwell, the Christmas Eve Meteorite Hi Bernd/All,Hope you have a very merry Barwellmas! Today (23rd) is known by myfamily and friends as Ensmas, my birthday and the eve of the Barwellfall. It fell the day after my 9th birthday a few miles away from homeand sparked of a lifetimes fascination with meteorites.... I'm stillsearching for the bits they missed!Hope you are all enjoying this festive season.Graham EnsorOn 23 December 2010 23:25, <bernd.pauli at paulinet.de> wrote:> Happy Birthday, Barwell!>> Bernd (in Germany at 00.35 local time ;-)>> ------------------------------------------------------>> On December 24, 1965, a Christmas present of sorts fell to the ground around> 16:20 hrs, when a brilliant fireball swept across southern England from a south> -southwesterly direction and landed in Barwell accompanied by a tremendous> explosion caused by the exploding meteorite that went down in history as the> Christmas Eve meteorite.>> The bolide must have been extremely bright. Some eyewitnesses say it was brighter> than the sun, others say it was almost twice as bright as Venus. There are also reports> of color changes during atmospheric descent.>> Local residents noted a large explosion, the sky suddenly lit up, a whizzing noise was> heard, there was a loud roar, a low rumbling noise, a screaming sound from a low-flying> object directly overhead, a loud rustling noise after the explosion, a sudden thud as> something hit the ground, a terrible crack, and also electrophonic phenomena.>> When one local picked up a strange-looking stone about as big as his hand, he immediately> threw it down again because it "felt warm". This stone had even left a small crater in the> asphalt road.>> Another Barwell resident found a dent in the hood of his automobile and a "white stone"> on the ground weighing between six and seven pounds.>> News of the actual fall was slow to spread but when it did, hell broke loose because> the British Museum had promised financial rewards for each and every find. Several> larger fragments and innumerable small stones were located by field parties and local> residents.>> While initial disruption occurred at an altitude of about 25 miles, final disruption probably> occurred at a very low altitude above Barwell.>> The ?Barwell L5 chondrite has a gray interior, numerous FeNi specks and grayish chondrules> that give it a mottled look. Interestingly, some of the fragments at Barwell came in from slightly> different directions - maybe due to strong winds high up in the atmosphere because a distinct> smoke trail rapidly disappeared.>> A 17-pounder made a perfectly vertical hole in sandy loam soil to a depth of 27 inches.> A 14 ? ounce fragment penetrated the roof of a local factory.> A 7-pound piece lay in an 18-inch hole.> A 6-pound chunk was found in a factory backyard partly buried in a cinder heap!>> Reference:>> Lancaster Brown P. (1966) The Barwell Meteorite (Sky & Telescope, July 1966, pp. 7-11).>> ______________________________________________> Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html> Meteorite-list mailing list> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list>______________________________________________Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.htmlMeteorite-list mailing listMeteorite-list at meteoritecentral.comhttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/li stinfo/meteorite-list Received on Thu 23 Dec 2010 08:07:11 PM PST |
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