[meteorite-list] New Australian fall

[Jerry Flaherty]

FAR OUT!

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From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 1:51 PM
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Subject: [meteorite-list] New Australian fall

> http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/rare-snapshot-of-solar-systems-dawn-20090918-fvcl.html
>
> Rare snapshot of solar system's dawn
> DEBORAH SMITH SCIENCE EDITOR
> September 19, 2009
>
> CAMERAS set up in outback Australia to track fireballs across the night 
> sky have
> led scientists to a rare meteorite formed at the dawn of the solar system.
>
> The fiery streak it made on descent allowed them not only to pinpoint 
> where it
> would fall on the vast Nullarbor Plain, but also work out where it had 
> come
> from.
>
> Three fragments of the meteorite, the biggest the size of a cricket ball, 
> were
> found within 100 metres of the predicted landing site, Alex Bevan, head of 
> earth
> and planetary science at the Western Australian Museum, said. ''That is
> incredible accuracy.''
>
> Dr Bevan said the Nullarbor desert was chosen for a new fireball 
> observatory
> because of its pale limestone colour. ''Most meteorites are dark so they
> contrast well with the local rock.''
>
> Dubbed Bunburra Rockhole after a nearby landmark, the meteorite was found 
> on the
> first day of searching by the international team, which includes 
> researchers
> from the Perth museum and CSIRO.
>
> Meteorites are among the most studied rocks on Earth, the team leader, 
> Philip
> Bland, of the Imperial College in London, said. ''But it's really rare for 
> us to
> be able to tell where they came from.''
>
> Based on its unusual basalt composition and trajectory, the researchers 
> believe
> the Nullarbor meteorite was once part of an asteroid in the innermost side 
> of
> the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, until a collision chipped it 
> off
> millions of years ago.
>
> It then moved into an orbit around the sun similar to that of Earth, 
> before
> plummeting to the ground on July 20, 2007.
>
> Weighing about 22 kilograms when it began its fiery descent at an altitude 
> of 60
> kilometres, only fragments of less than 200 grams were left when it hit.
>
> ''We're cautiously optimistic that this find could be the first of many, 
> and if
> that happens, each find may give us more clues about how the solar system
> began,'' Dr Bland, whose team's study was published yesterday in the 
> journal
> Science, said.
>
> Asteroids in the innermost belt are thought to have formed near the sun 
> and
> consist of the same material from which the earth was made.
>
> The fireball observatory consists of a network of four cameras that take a
> single time-lapse picture every night to track any shooting stars, and 
> complex
> mathematics is required to determine a meteorite's original orbit.
>
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