Posted: Dec 31, 2009 10:22 AM PST Updated: Dec 31, 2009 10:32 AM PST

In Wetumpka, folks will be treated to a special spin on the New Year’s Eve tradition.

Thursday night marks the 18th Annual Meteorite drop at the Old Courthouse – in honor of the meteorite that hit the River City.

This year, it will drop at 11pm with the ball in New York City, as folks in Wetumpka watch the crowds in Time Square projected onto a screen at the event.

After the ball drops at 11pm, bands and a small fireworks show help count down 2009.

But stick around, at the stroke of midnight, a big fireworks display with light up the river.

SOURCE – “Meteorite Drop” in Wetumpka

Here’s the list with links to the info pages. Science Channel’s Top Ten Meteorites

10 – Allende Meteorite – Carbonaceous meteorite fall in Mexico 1969
9 – Murchison Meteorite – Carbonaceous meteorite fall in Australia 1969
8 – Peekskill Meteorite – Chondrite meteorite impacted car in Peekskill NY 1992
7 – Orgueil Meteorite – Meteorite fell May 1864
6 – ALH 84001 – Martian meteorite found in Antarctica 1984 (Possible Fossilized Microbial Lifeforms)
5 – Sylacauga/Hodges Meteorite – Meteorite hit 31 year old woman 1954
4 – Sikhote-Alin – Iron meteorite falls in Russia (Sikhote Alin Mountains) 1947
3 – Willamette Meteorite – Largest meteorite found in the United States 1902
2 – Hoba Meteorite – Largest meteorite in the world found in Namibia Africa 1920
1 – Tunguska Event – NOT a meteorite but comet/asteroid explosion over Siberia, Russia in 1908

Now here’s my issue with this list. Though I have more than one problem with this list I’ll supply the biggest one first. The ALH 84001 Martian meteorite is perhaps the most scientifically important meteorite ever discovered by man since the beginning of time. This is not an overstatement but rather just an opinion based on the fact that scientists believe there is evidence of fossilized microbial lifeforms found within the stone. Not to mention the second fact that it’s the only meteorite from the planet Mars that made it to the list.

To further the “problem” the Science Channel’s Top Ten list continue with the Tunguska Event which happened over Siberia in Russia in 1908. First off the Tunguska Event isn’t even a meteorite. This hotly debated “airburst” event leveled thousands of square miles of forest and started a firestorm of scientific study and intrigue. To this day no meteorite specimens have ever been recovered by any of the many meteorite expedition teams that have ventured out into the blast zone. In my opinion this event need not be on a “Top Ten Meteorite” list at all. It’s an event, NOT a meteorite.

If the ALH 84001 Martian meteorite is proven to harbor fossilized lifeforms this makes it the first meteorite in history to ever have been discovered with such an important find, and more importantly it will prove that we are not alone! That aliens do in fact exist. Even the possibility of this being true in my opinion makes the ALH 84001 worthy of the #1 spot on the list.

If that’s not worthy of the #1 spot on ANY Top Ten list I don’t know what is. Do you?

Maybe I’m a bit biased because I think that the possible discovery of lifeforms from somewhere other than Earth should mean more than a #6 spot on the Top Ten Meteorites of All Time.

SOURCE: Youtube – A Meteorite Hit My House – Cool Science Experiment
WEBSITE: Steve Spangler Science

A long while ago I discussed an idea for a central meteorite website with some community members about the creation of a central hub of meteorite knowledge and information database in which everyone could participate and contribute through a community of like minded individuals. This of course would be for the furtherance of the science and hobby of meteoritics, meteorite collecting, meteorite hunting, and the meteorite industry as a whole.

A website that would provide an active and evolving database of encyclopedic meteorite knowledge and information for the hobbiest, scientist and even more so for the curious, as they are the new meteorite enthusiasts and possible future meteoriticists.

As the world learns more about meteorites, asteroids, comets, and the universe in relation to meteorites what better way to grow this knowledge base than through the first and only meteorite related wiki. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a wiki is, it’s an online collaborative effort to compile information in a community type environment.

Introducing The Meteorite Wiki: www.meteoritewiki.com

The Meteorite Wiki runs on the same software that runs the world famous and beloved Wikipedia.org website, and is robust and feature rich enough to provide the perfect venue to compile the worlds meteorite information into one easy and convenient online database.

Mission Statement: To compile knowledge and share the enjoyment of meteorite science & hobby through an open community wiki in which everyone interested can participate & contribute to the growth of the knowledge of meteorites.

Enjoy…

Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA

Those interested in contributing or who would like more information, you’re welcome to respond to this thread publicly on-list or privately via email. If you belong to a university or educational institution we would love to have you contibute your articles, papers, photos, video or other media to the inclusion in the Meteorite Wiki. We have also reserved the most important website domain name as well for the expansion of the Meteorite Wiki experiment, meteoritewiki.org. This is to create a non-profit organization for the site should it be a successful endeavor. For now though it will be under the .com extension.

Well, now you can. With the advent of the TubeSat, now you can have your own satellite launched into space in a low orbit around Earth.

According to an article on Spacefellowship.com’s website and on Interorbital.com’s website, Interorbital Systems has created a low cost satellite system that can be launched for an amazingly low cost of only $8000. Now this may seem lile a lot of money to you and me. But astronomically speaking it’s cheap! Low cost doesn’t even start to decribe it. The space program has spent billions of dollars getting satellites into orbit around the Earth for various scientific study and natianl security projects.

Now you can launch scientific equipment into space much faster and cheaper than ever before. This opens many doors to scientific study and future discoveries by smaller universities that just wasn’t possible in the past. Many scientific institutions that couldn’t afford to launch their own satellite in the past can now have their own personal satellite for all sort of scientific study. The knowledge gained from that study will be invaluable to mankind.

About Tube Sat – The Personal Satellite Kit

The TubeSat also allows the builder to add his or her own experiment or function to the basic TubeSat kit. Examples of add-on experiments or functions include the following:

▼ Earth-from-space video imaging
▼ Earth magnetic field measurement
▼ Satellite orientation detection (horizon sensor, gyros, accelerometers, etc.)
▼ Orbital environment measurements (temperature, pressure, radiation, etc.)
▼ On-orbit hardware and software component testing (microprocessors, etc.)
▼ Tracking migratory animals from orbit
▼ Testing satellite stabilization methods
▼ Biological experiments
▼ On-orbit advertising
▼ Private e-mail

As long as the experiment or function satisfies the volume and mass restrictions, it can be integrated into the TubeSat. These restrictions provide a unique intellectual challenge for the experiment or function designer.

SOURCE: TubeSat

Most times the cost of researching, designing, planning, buliding, implementing, and launching a reaserch satellite into space requires hundreds of thousands of man hours, and millions of dollars just to launch one satellite into space. Now it’ll cost $8000 which is within even the smallest educational institutions budget.

Space Is Within Your Grasp?
This revolutionary device now brings space down to your level. Now the big boys aren’t the only ones who can touch the stars! This puts the vastness of space at your finger tips.

Interorbital Systems has also joined the Google Lunar X-Prize and is on the SENERGY MOON team with InterPlanetary Ventures, the Human Synergy Project.

“…InterPlanetary Ventures, the Human Synergy Project, and Interorbital Systems have joined forces to become SYNERGY MOON, the newest team to enter the Google Lunar X PRIZE race to the Moon…”

SOURCE: GoogleLunarXprize.org

This is certainly an exciting time!

The future of space technology is evolving…

Wow! You learn something new everyday. I’ve been studying meteorites for 2 years now and never new this little factoid. Just when you think you know something you learn something that makes you realize you don’t know near as much as you think.

History
A mass of about 700 kg was detected in 1749 about 145 miles south of Krasnojarsk. It was seen by P.S. Pallas in 1772 and transported to Krasnojarsk.

Krasnojarsk was the first pallasite meteorite ever found and studied and lead to the creation of the Pallasite group named after Pallas. It was also the first meteorite ever etched with acid (by G. Thomson) and therefore was the first one to show to human eyes the Widmanstätten pattern.

The main mass of 515 kg is now in Moscow at the Academy of Sciences.

Krasnojarsk Meteorite First Pallasite Ever Discovered

Composition and classification
It is a stony-iron meteorite of the Main Group Pallasite (MGP) group.

Pallasite
In 1772, Pallas was shown a 680 kilogram lump of metal which had been found near the city of Krasnoyarsk. Pallas arranged for it to be transported back to St Petersburg. Subsequent analysis of the metal showed that it was a new type of stony-iron meteorite. This new type of meteorite was called Pallasite after him, whereas the meteorite itself is named Krasnojarsk or sometimes also called Pallas Iron (the name given to it by Ernst Chladni in 1794).

Related Links:

The Museum of Natural History in Vienna – Meteorite Collection
Krasnojarsk Meteorite – Museum of Natural History (Vienna)
Natural History Museum London – Meteorite Collection
Krasnojarsk Meteorite – Natrual History Museum (London)
Krasnojarsk Meteorite – Meteoritical Bulletin Database (Online Database of all Classified Meteorites)

one witness described hearing a “whistling sound” preceded by a “loud bang”. This is consistant with a meteoroid passing through the atmosphere either exploding or creating a sonic boom. The loud bang could have been from a meteoroid, which flying faster than the speed of sound would have created a sonic boom that could be heard quite some distance away. The whistling sound is also a good indicator (though not conclusive) of the meteoric orgin of the phenomena witnessed.

When a meteoroid enters our atmosphere it might break apart depending on it’s composition (typically iron or stone). It’s been reported by many witnesses close to areas where a meteorite falls that they hear a whistling or whooshing sound as the space rock(s)fly through the air overhead.

This could be an explanation to the sound heard by this witness. Though this is speculation at this point, the report if accurate does in fact describe key clues to the supporting of the meteor fireball theory.

We’ll just have to wait and see…

If this was a meteorite and it fell in the river, then about the only way to recover it is by scuba or dragging a large magnet across the river bottom. Since most meteorites contain iron it’s possible a VERY powerful magnet might be able to pick up a piece or two of a meteorite if one is there. What is needed now are more witnesses.

If you have information about this event please contact us or your local news station, or university. It’s possible there are in fact meteorites on the ground from this event.

Did something crash in the Ottawa River?

18 January 2009 1,500 views No Comment

Meteor Fireball In Sweden

The Swedish are lucky people as they are witness to one of the most beautiful natural phenomena the natural world has known. A huge fireball streaked across the southwestern skies of Sweden early Saturday evening. Gothenburg (or Göteborg) SOS and air rescue service was inundated with reports of a fireball in the sky around 8pm Saturday Jan 17th.

Meteors typically burn up upon entry into Earth’s atmosphere, and there a chance this might be debris from a satellite. Either way you look at it it is certainly a spectacular event. The light show was fabulously bright and displayed an array of colors from bright blue streaks, a big blue-white flash, and a gorgeous red-orange and yellow tail.

“The Local” Sweden News in English here: http://www.thelocal.se/16990/20090118/

via Meteorites USA » Blog Archive » Meteor Fireball In Sweden – Video.

Information about Meteors, Meteoroids, Fireballs & Meteorites.

Meteors and “Shooting Stars”

Meteors are most often seen as a very brief streak of light in the night sky. They typically occur and disappear so quickly that you wonder if you actually saw them. These streaks of light are commonly called “shooting stars” or “falling stars”. Although they are most often seen at night, especially bright meteors can be seen during daylight. The photo at right shows a meteor in the sky over Quebec, Canada on an early November morning.

What are Meteoroids?

The streak that we call a meteor is a trail of glowing vapor produced when a small particle of space debris enters Earth’s atmosphere. These particles of space debris are collectively referred to as “meteoroids.” Millions of meteoroids enter earth’s atmosphere every day. They are believed to originate within our own solar system rather than from interstellar space. Most meteoroids that enter Earth’s atmosphere are tiny particles of comets, asteroids, Mars or Moon that travel through space and collide with Earth’s atmosphere.

SOURCE:  Meteor | Meteoroid | Fireball | Meteorite | GEOLOGY.COM.

Metallic rock that crashed into house in New Jersey photo

* Meteorite’s Organic Matter Older Than the Sun, Study Says (November 30, 2006)

* Meteorite Impact Reformulated Earth’s Crust, Study Shows (January 12, 2006)

* Virtual Solar System

January 5, 2007—It looks like a shiny lump of fool’s gold, and it certainly has authorities fooled as to just what it is.

This metallic rocklike object crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home on January 2, ripping through the ceiling and ricocheting off a tiled bathroom floor before lodging in a wall.

No one was hurt by the impact, but local detectives trying to identify the mysterious debris may have their professional egos a little bruised.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my career,” Lt. Robert Brightman of the Freehold Township Police Department told the Associated Press at a press conference yesterday.

Experts from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration have already inspected the 13-ounce (0.4 kilogram) lump and determined that it is not a stray airplane part.

Another test found that the object is not radioactive, although it does appear to be magnetic.

Some astronomers have speculated that that the object could be a meteorite, since the Quadrantid meteor shower occurs annually in early January.

But meteor showers typically involve small particles of icy rock, not big metal chunks, so if the mass is a meteorite, it’s likely an unusual one.

Other theories have suggested that the lump is a tool lost by an astronaut or flotsam from an orbiting satellite that melted as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

Brightman said scientists are currently testing the object and hope to have results by the end of the week.

—Blake de Pastino

via Photo in the News: Mysterious Space Object Crashes Into House.