[meteorite-list] Meteorite that hit Northwest Georgia unveiled

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:42:13 -0400
Message-ID: <w2se51421551004211242lf8db3091r3bac2dd6d10ee070_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Greg and List,

The article says the meteorite is an "ordinary chondrite". Is there
any official word on what exact type of OC?

I wonder why some institutions wait so long to obtain an official
classification? Is it because they don't want to surrender a type
sample and aren't recognized by the MS to do their own
classifications? Why wait so long when the meteorite has been
confirmed?

Best regards,

MikeG


On 4/21/10, Greg Stanley <stanleygregr at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> List:
>
> What a beauty - and a hammer too.
>
> Greg S.
>
>
> http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/apr/21/meteorite-that-hit-northwest-georgia-unveiled/
>
>
>
> Meteorite that hit Northwest Georgia unveiled
>
> By: Andy Johns
>
>
> CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- A meteorite older than Earth itself, traveling millions
> of miles through space before blowing through an attic in Northwest Georgia,
> was unveiled Tuesday morning at the Tellus Science Museum.
>
> "It's sort of interesting to ponder the journey this meteorite might have
> had," said museum curator Julian Gray.
>
> Experts estimate the half-pound, peach-sized space rock was traveling
> between 50,000 and 70,000 mph when it entered the atmosphere on March 1,
> 2009. They estimate it was still moving at 200 to 300 miles per hour when it
> punctured a roof, bounced off of a joist, punched through a drywall ceiling
> and landed in a bedroom in a Cartersville home around 11 p.m. that night.
>
> "I would suggest we all look at the fine print in our (insurance) policy,"
> joked Jose Santamaria, executive director for the museum.
>
> Held in a special airtight case, the meteorite will go on display at the
> museum Thursday.
>
> Staff photo by Andy Johns
> This meteorite crashed through the roof of a Cartersville home in March 2009
> and will be on display at the Tellus Science Museum.
>
> Officials at the museum said testing on the rock place its age at about 4.6
> billion years old. Scientists generally estimate that the Earth is 4.5
> billion years old.
>
> No one was home when the space rock fell from the sky, but a neighbor
> reported hearing a sonic boom. The homeowner, who brought the rock to Tellus
> in August, wishes to remain anonymous and museum officials declined to
> discuss the location of the find.
>
> Mr. Gray said the meteorite's discoverer was not sure exactly what the rock
> was.
>
> "The first thought was that kids were throwing rocks through the window," he
> said.
>
> After noticing the hole in the roof, the homeowner thought the rock might be
> from a quarry blast.
>
> Once the find was brought to the museum, it didn't take the staff long to
> determine its cosmic origins.
>
> "I think I identified it before I touched it," said Dave Gheesling, a
> founding member of the Georgia Meteorite Association.
>
> METEORITE AT A GLANCE
>
> * Weight: 294 grams, or about half a pound
>
> * Age: 4.567 billion years old
>
> * Speed at impact: 200 to 300 mph
>
> * Speed at entering atmosphere: 50,000 to 70,000 mph
>
> * Type: Ordinary chondrite
>
> * Contents: Iron, nickel, other elements
>
> Source: Tellus Science Museum
>
> Residents, especially around areas like Cartersville, where mining blasts
> are common, bring Mr. Gheesling more than 1,000 "meteorwrongs" every year.
> The stones are usually river rocks, iron ore or metal slag mistaken to be
> from outer space.
>
> The Cartersville rock, thought to have originated in the asteroid belt
> between Mars and Jupiter, is the 25th meteorite found in Georgia.
>
> Mr. Gheesling said the rock is a little larger than most of the meteorites
> he's seen, but documented specimens range from 60 tons to the size of an
> English pea.
>
> The Cartersville meteorite probably lost a good bit of its mass as it burned
> through Earth's atmosphere and other fragments may have splintered off
> during decent, Mr. Gheesling added.
>
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Received on Wed 21 Apr 2010 03:42:13 PM PDT