[meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?

From: Richard Montgomery <rickmont_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:04:33 -0800
Message-ID: <9C470E87C8CF40619F3F50F4E165EB4D_at_bosoheadPC>

Hello again List. On the quantitative and qualitative scope of things, (and
for me as a VERY meager collector of meteorites, yet with a huge affinity
for the aesthetic, rarity and important meteoritic knowledge)... and since
this discussion surrounds how large a main mass is (it remains unobtainable
to me, and doesn't really matter at this point).... tangibly having a
specimen under the scope as a vision to further understanding relegates the
$ value to the backseat.

It does, however, reflect the global relevence: "how significant is my
specimen in grand scope?" Quite frankly: negligible.

When I learn of how large a main-mass is, it's important for me to divorce
the quantitative relevence of my insignificant morsel from the aesthetic.
Otherwise, I'd go nuts!

Richard Montgomery




----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Loeffler" <bobl at peaktopeak.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?


> Thanks to those who chimed in.
>
> I agree that it's not a scientifically useful stat to keep track of, but
> many people have asked for trivial info about meteorites before, and they
> will continue to do so after we are all worm food. This is just an
> interesting little tidbit that some people wonder about, so having a list
> in
> one place would be nice. Data such as the year in which a met was found,
> or
> the location where it was found, is not scientifically important (we've
> seen
> the arguments on this list before), yet each met entry in the MB db has
> the
> year and location because people want to know those things. But I
> understand why you wouldn't want to do this on the MB db... it would
> definitely take some time to compile.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bob L.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Jeff
> Grossman
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 10:48 AM
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?
>
> None of this is something I want to track in the MB Database. It would
> be too difficult and time-consuming to track an ever-changing and often
> controversial list. Moreover, as you say, it isn't a particularly
> useful thing to tabulate. I'll leave it to collectors to take on this
> task.
>
> Jeff
>
> On 1/25/2012 5:15 AM, MexicoDoug wrote:
>> " A main mass list? Heck, there isn't even a "main mass" definition
>> everybody agrees on! Here's mine:"
>>
>> Hi Jeff, all,
>>
>> A main mass has some scientific value IMO in some circumstances. But
>> really, it seems to me one of those things that we keep having to fill
>> out on a boilerplate form that serves of little real scientific
>> value. Better would be to drop the confusing, unfortunately now
>> unscientfic (due to the various definitions as you already reminded
>> us) term "main mass" and just have an entry called,
>>
>> "biggest known piece" = BKP
>>
>> which is already used analogously in the case of TKW.
>>
>> in the database. It's really what most collectors are interested in
>> anyway and would create probably a bunch more of limited useful
>> information llike the TKW's which frequently are significantly
>> understated. My take on a 'main mass' wouldn't require it to be more
>> than half, but rather the principal piece of the original meteoroid
>> from which all fragmentation is derived, and the one expected to
>> travel furthest up the dispersion ellipse's axis shedding it all. I
>> suppose a scenario of a boulder splitting into two equal pieces would
>> screw that up too, but then we could drop some fancier names to
>> describe that 'degenerate' case.
>>
>> Just sounding off
>>
>> Kindest wishes
>> Doug
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jeff Grossman <jngrossman at gmail.com>
>> To: meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Tue, Jan 24, 2012 11:33 am
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?
>>
>>
>> A main mass list? Heck, there isn't even a "main mass" definition
>> everybody agrees on! Here's mine:
>>
>> "An individual stone/iron or piece of an individual stone/iron that
>> comprises the majority (> 50%) of the known mass of a named meteorite."
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> On 1/24/2012 10:08 AM, Bob Loeffler wrote:
>>> Hi list,
>>>
>>> After looking at Jim Strope's photos of the New Concord main mass
>> (Rocks
>>> from Space Picture of the Day a couple days ago) that he got in a
>> trade with
>>> ASU (my alma mater; Go Sun Devils!), I thought of a question:
>>>
>>> Who has the most main masses in their collection? Of course, I
>> thought of
>>> people like Bob Haag, Mike Farmer, etc and museums like the
>> Smithsonian,
>>> ASU, etc.
>>>
>>> Has anyone ever put together such a list? Because of trading, the
>> list
>>> might be hard to keep updated, but maybe not since main masses are
>> coveted
>>> and might not be passed around too much. For new falls, the main
>> mass will
>>> change as newer/bigger pieces are found, but I would think "someone
>> in the
>>> know" could put together the list, or at least start it.
>>>
>>> If nobody has such a list, maybe the Meteoritical Bulletin Database
>> could
>>> have a few more fields added for easy searching. Fields such as Main
>> Mass
>>> Weight, Main Mass Owner and Main Mass Image (for the best photo of
>> the main
>>> mass), and then the Owner field could be easily changed if the
>> Meteoritical
>>> Society finds out that the main mass was sold/traded to someone else.
>>> Anyway, just a thought.
>>>
>>> In case you are wondering, I have no main masses in my collection.
>> :-(
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Bob L.
>>>
>>>
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Received on Wed 25 Jan 2012 09:04:33 PM PST