[meteorite-list] Determining fall rate from falls observed

From: Tom aka James Knudson <knudson911_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:16:31 2004
Message-ID: <004d01c35e2c$877b90e0$8bcc43d8_at_malcolm>

Hello List, Rob wrote in part ; "meteorite-dropping". I was not sure and
was always to afraid to ask, but now I know that they do. I was finding
little globs on the bottom of my display case and attributed to my rusting
Nantan. Know that I know what it really is, I will use kitty litter on the
bottom of my case! Thanks for bringing this up Rob. : )
Thanks, Tom
Peregrineflier <><
The proudest member of the IMCA 6168
----- Original Message -----
From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
To: 'tracy latimer' <daistiho_at_hotmail.com>;
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 7:26 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Determining fall rate from falls observed


> Hi All,
>
> Tracy asked:
>
> > Considering that there has been a scientific presence on
> > the Antarctic ice cap for the past 30+ years, a good place
> > to start might be: How many witnessed falls are there
> > from Antarctica?
>
> I would guess none. The greatest human presence is during
> austral summers, when you have perpetual daylight, so only
> the very brightest bolides would be noticed. More importantly,
> the only large concentration of people is at McMurdo, so the
> only falls likely to be seen would be within a couple hundred
> miles of McMurdo.
>
> Only a very small fraction of earth's meteorite falls are
> observed. Ignoring the ~70% that are missed because they
> occur over the ocean, you still have vast regions of earth's
> land mass that are very thinly populated (Gobi and Sahara
> Deserts, Greenland, northern Canada, Australian outback,
> Siberia, etc.) Factor in the % of time that people are
> outdoors, the probability of clear skies, and account for
> areas with very obscured viewing (e.g. forests), and I bet
> you're left with a number less than 1%.
>
> It also wouldn't surprise me if a significant fraction of
> meteorite-dropping falls were not only unobserved but
> unobservable. No one is going to see a magnitude -4 bolide
> in broad daylight, and yet this might be all that you could
> hope for from a tiny stone of a gram or two.
>
> --Rob
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Sat 09 Aug 2003 12:13:01 AM PDT