[meteorite-list] Intergalactic False Alarm: Novato Meteorite is Just a Rock

From: Shawn Alan <photophlow_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:50:15 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <1351068615.32106.YahooMailNeo_at_web162601.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>

Hello Listers

Just found this, might be interesting for others that are hunting for meteorites in Novato area.

"After a fireball streaked across the Bay Area sky last Wednesday evening, scientists and locals alike have been on the hunt for pieces of the meteor that is believed to have made landfall in the Bay Area.
On Tuesday the meteor astronomer with the SETI Institute who reported over the weekend that the first piece of the meteor was found after it hit the roof of a Novato home clarified that the suspected meteorite discovered there is actually a natural rock.
Dr. Peter Jenniskens with the SETI Institute said on his NASA Ames Research Center webpage the house of administrative nurse at the University of California at San Francisco Lisa Webber was hit by something during the fireball's descent last Wednesday evening, but the meteorite remains elusive.
After an examination using a petrographic microscope Monday, Jenniskens was able to conclude the rock was not a meteorite.
He wrote Tuesday, "I sincerely thought it was, based on what appeared to me was remnant fusion crust. On closer inspection, that crust was a product of weathering of a natural rock, not from the heat of entry."
The 2-inch rock is 63 grams, dense and responds to a magnet, according to information from the SETI Institute, a nonprofit scientific and education organization that has projects sponsored by NASA and other foundations and research groups...."

source: http://millvalley.patch.com/articles/intergalactic-false-alarm-novato-meteorite-is-just-a-rock
?
The sample that was first found looks like the second sample that was found.
??
Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
eBay Store
http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633nyc/m.html?
http://www.meteoritefalls.com/
Received on Wed 24 Oct 2012 04:50:15 AM PDT