[meteorite-list] Scientists to probe Nagpur meteorite shower

From: Mike Groetz <mpg4444_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 May 2012 07:25:34 -0400
Message-ID: <CABK572DJRnekcuYU5qg_6ueCmETmQ5Te8udFSK1kk9cGQ5-KyA_at_mail.gmail.com>

Scientists to probe Nagpur meteorite shower


http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_scientists-to-probe-nagpur-meteorite-shower_1694548


A team of scientists from Mumbai will leave for Nagpur on Monday to
investigate and study the impact of last Tuesday's large meteorite
shower in the Katol region which damaged several houses, an official
said here on Sunday.

Tentatively named 'Vinoba Meteorite Shower 2012', the team will probe
whether any crater has been formed in the region, covering a distance
of around 200 sq km, said Bharat Adur, head of Akash Ganga Centre for
Astronomy (AGCA), Thane.

"The phenomenon of balls of fire shooting from the sky accompanied by
huge blast-like sounds was witnessed by many last Tuesday evening
around 5 p.m. The shower was travelling in the eastern direction and
is the first such meteorite shower recorded in the Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra," Adur told IANS.

A Geological Survey of India (GSI) team, which has already collected
some samples, will also be surveying the entire area over the next
couple of days, he added.

Adur said that the meteor shower was accompanied by earth tremors
measuring 2.1 on the Richter Scale, but it is not clear whether the
cumulative effect of the meteorites falling created the quake or it
was a coincidence (that the meteorite shower and earthquake occurred
simultaneously).

Adur said the GSI's Deputy Director-General (Central Region) Binok
Kumar and three other scientists have collected small samples of the
meteorites for scientific studies and now, the Mumbai team will travel
there for its own independent studies.

"They have confirmed that the pieces are indeed meteorites and this
will add to the challenges before us after their physical, chemical
analysis and age would be determined using radioisotope methods," Adur
said.

Director of the Petrology Department, G Suresh has opined from a
preliminary check that the black colour pieces recovered belong to a
'stony meteorite' and are rich in silicate minerate with minute
quantities of iron and nickel.

One of the samples recovered from Lakshmi Nagar in Nagpur measures
9.5x9x9.5 cm. Weighing nearly 700 gm, it is believed to have caused a
8x7x10 cm void in the earth.

According to Adur, the pieces belong to a huge mass of around 30
metres in diameter which could have fallen from a travelling asteroid
and entered the earth's atmosphere.

"The piece disintegrated soon after entering our atmosphere and the
meteorites hit the surface at a speed of over 17 km per second. If it
had not disintegrated, the effects could have been disastrous for
parts of Nagpur and other areas," Adur pointed out.

He explained that the meteorite which hit at Lonar in Buldhana
district some 52,000 years ago was around 100 metres in diameter and
has created a crater measuring around 4,000 metres diameter and a
depth of 450 feet which is now famous as the Lonar Lake.

In the past, other major meteorite showers recorded in India include:
Feb 16, 1827 at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh which hit and injured a man;
Sep 27, 2003 at Mayurbhanj, Odisha and Sep 23, 2008 at Hosur in Tamil
Nadu.
Received on Mon 28 May 2012 07:25:34 AM PDT