[meteorite-list] Fwd: First cut at wind-shifted, predicted impact coordinates

From: Richard Kowalski <*damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:14:00 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <247602.97251.qm_at_web113617.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> · damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com

--
Richard Kowalski
http://fullmoonphotography.net
IMCA #1081
--- On Sun, 1/24/10, Paul Harris <paul at meteorite.com> wrote:
> From: Paul Harris <paul at meteorite.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: First cut at wind-shifted, predicted impact coordinates
> To: "Mike Hankey" <mike.hankey at gmail.com>
> Cc: "meteoritelist" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 12:58 PM
> Hi Mike,
> 
> Yes, Rob does amazing work and finds an incredible number
> of meteorites 
> too.? So many in fact that I often wondered how he was
> able to transport 
> them all home at the end of a hunt.? Then one day
> while Jim and I were 
> out hunting I discovered the answer...
> 
> http://www.meteorite.com/rob.jpg
> 
> Jim and I are looking forward to seeing everyone soon at
> Tucson!
> http://www.meteorite-times.com/tucson/
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mike Hankey wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Meteor wizard Rob Matson has taken a first crack at
> estimating a
> > strewnfield for the Lorton Meteorite.
> >
> > I have plotted the points in Google Earth. You can see
> some maps and
> > download the KMZ file here:
> >
> > http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/astro-photos/lorton-meteorite-estimated-strewnfield-version-1/
> >
> > Its looking like the Fort Belvoir Golf Course could be
> prime hunting grounds.
> >
> > Rob is the only person I know of who is qualified to
> do this type of
> > work and willing to share it with the meteorite
> community. Rob's work
> > has been instrumental in numerous meteorite
> discoveries and we all owe
> > him a debt of gratitude.
> >
> > Thanks Rob!
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Guys,
> >
> > I've done some serious data-gathering and
> number-crunching
> > today to come up with a hunting corridor for you. Here
> are
> > my current best assumptions based on witness
> observations,
> > images of the dust cloud, the impact location, and
> upper
> > atmospheric radiosonde data for the balloon launched
> from
> > Sterling, VA, about an hour after the fall:
> >
> > Entry angle: ~55-60 degrees from horizontal (i.e.
> steep)
> > Flight direction:? Azimuth +191 (11 degrees west
> of south)
> > Average wind velocity from 5-16 km altitude:? 70
> knots
> > Average wind direction from 5-16 km altitude:? Az
> 90 (east)
> >
> > Using an example break-up altitude of 25 km at an
> initial
> > velocity of 15 km/sec, the rotation of the strewn
> field
> > relative to flight direction ends up being 40-50 deg
> clockwise,
> > which is quite significant. Here are where masses of
> various
> > sizes end up, both in Lat/Long and distance/bearing
> from the
> > 308 g find:
> >
> >? Mass? ? Longitude? Latitude?
> Dist (mi) Bearing
> > -------? ---------? --------? ---------
> -------
> >???3 g? ? -77.12929?
> 38.73888? ???5.2? ? ?
> 59.3
> >???5 g? ? -77.14419?
> 38.73268? ???4.3? ? ?
> 58.7
> >? 15 g? ? -77.16179? 38.72688?
> ???3.2? ? ? 56.0
> >? 40 g? ? -77.18079? 38.71908?
> ???2.1? ? ? 52.6
> > 120 g? ? -77.19569? 38.71088?
> ???1.1? ? ? 50.6
> > (308 g)? -77.21159? 38.70068?
> ???-0-? ? ? N/A
> > 1150 g???-77.22609? 38.69048?
> ???1.1? ???228.0
> > 3750 g???-77.24249? 38.67848?
> ???2.3? ???227.4
> >
> > The reason the masses aren't round numbers is that my
> program
> > includes ablation, so while the simulated stones
> started off
> > with nice round numbers like 100 g and 1 kg at
> altitude, the
> > ablated masses are a fraction of the original.
> >
> > So where are these locations? The 120-gram mass ends
> up near
> > Rhondda Drive, a couple hundred meters NW of Richmond
> Highway
> > and Telegraph Rd. The 40-gram mass ends up on the
> north end
> > of Ft. Belvoir. The simulated 15-grammer ends up on
> the Ft.
> > Belvoir golf course. But 5-gram stones would be off
> the base
> > to its north, north of John J. Kingman Rd. And 3-gram
> stones
> > end up in the southwest corner of Huntley Meadows
> Park.
> >
> > Going in the other direction (heavier masses), the
> ~1.1 kilo
> > simulated mass above ends up very close to I-95, a
> little
> > west of Morris Ginsberg & Co.? And the
> largest mass I ran
> > crosses over to the other side of I-95 on Landfill
> Drive. ;-)
> >
> > If you connect all these dots, you should find quite a
> bit
> > of searchable real estate.? My advice is on a map
> to draw a
> > 45 degree angle southwest of the doctor's office for
> heavier
> > stones, and a ~55-degree angle NE of the 308-g find
> for the
> > lighter stuff (that's 55-degrees clockwise from
> north).
> >
> > I'll continue to search for better observations that
> can
> > yield a more accurate entry angle.? We really
> need a good
> > observer who had a side view of the event and can tell
> us
> > what the slope was like relative to the horizon.?
> --Rob
> > ______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >???
> 
> 
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