[meteorite-list] Barwell, the Christmas Eve Meteorite

[Larry Atkins]

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Graham! And Barwell, too!


Sincerely,
Larry Atkins
IMCA # 1941
Ebay username  'alienrockfarm'



-----Original Message-----
From: e-mail ensoramanda <ensoramanda at ntlworld.com>
To: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de
Cc: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Thu, Dec 23, 2010 5:01 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Barwell, the Christmas Eve Meteorite


Hi Bernd/All,Hope you have a very merry Barwellmas! Today (23rd) is 
known by myfamily and friends as Ensmas, my birthday and the eve of the 
Barwellfall. It fell the day after my 9th birthday a few miles away 
 from homeand sparked of a lifetimes fascination with meteorites.... I'm 
stillsearching for the bits they missed!Hope you are all enjoying this 
festive season.Graham EnsorOn 23 December 2010 23:25,  
<bernd.pauli at paulinet.de> wrote:> Happy Birthday, Barwell!>> Bernd (in 
Germany at 00.35 local time ;-)>> 
------------------------------------------------------>> On December 
24, 1965, a Christmas present of sorts fell to the ground around> 16:20 
hrs, when a brilliant fireball swept across southern England from a 
south> -southwesterly direction and landed in Barwell accompanied by a 
tremendous> explosion caused by the exploding meteorite that went down 
in history as the> Christmas Eve meteorite.>> The bolide must have been 
extremely bright. Some eyewitnesses say it was brighter> than the sun, 
others say it was almost twice as bright as Venus. There are also 
reports> of color changes during atmospheric descent.>> Local residents 
noted a large explosion, the sky suddenly lit up, a whizzing noise was> 
heard, there was a loud roar, a low rumbling noise, a screaming sound 
 from a low-flying> object directly overhead, a loud rustling noise 
after the explosion, a sudden thud as> something hit the ground, a 
terrible crack, and also electrophonic phenomena.>> When one local 
picked up a strange-looking stone about as big as his hand, he 
immediately> threw it down again because it "felt warm". This stone had 
even left a small crater in the> asphalt road.>> Another Barwell 
resident found a dent in the hood of his automobile and a "white 
stone"> on the ground weighing between six and seven pounds.>> News of 
the actual fall was slow to spread but when it did, hell broke loose 
because> the British Museum had promised financial rewards for each and 
every find. Several> larger fragments and innumerable small stones were 
located by field parties and local> residents.>> While initial 
disruption occurred at an altitude of about 25 miles, final disruption 
probably> occurred at a very low altitude above Barwell.>> The  Barwell 
L5 chondrite has a gray interior, numerous FeNi specks and grayish 
chondrules> that give it a mottled look. Interestingly, some of the 
fragments at Barwell came in from slightly> different directions - 
maybe due to strong winds high up in the atmosphere because a distinct> 
smoke trail rapidly disappeared.>> A 17-pounder made a perfectly 
vertical hole in sandy loam soil to a depth of 27 inches.> A 14 ½ ounce 
fragment penetrated the roof of a local factory.> A 7-pound piece lay 
in an 18-inch hole.> A 6-pound chunk was found in a factory backyard 
partly buried in a cinder heap!>> Reference:>> Lancaster Brown P. 
(1966) The Barwell Meteorite (Sky & Telescope, July 1966, pp. 7-11).>> 
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