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To: InABunkerUnderSF
Went and looked at the latest information on it. I'm a little surprised that when they located a few fragments, it didn't make news, or just received little coverage, or I just missed it.

Some are speculating that it was up to ten tons. Read about the Arizona meteor hunter that was offering $$ for fragments. etc. That guy in AZ has quite a collection.

136 posted on 12/18/2008 8:42:01 PM PST by dragnet2
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To: dragnet2

This one hit the atmosphere with what was estimated to be a force about the equivalent of 100 tons of TNT. That suggests that someone thought it weighed between 100 and 200 kilograms. Depending on what it was made of (based on the pictures probably some kind of condrite, Astronomy.com says H5 but I don’t know how they can tell just by looking at it) about 80% of it probably survived the heat of entry. Some ordinary condrites, like Tunguska, contain up to .3% ice. If the heat of entry causes the ice to vaporize all at once, depending on how the ice is distributed within the body it could cause a lot of the meteor not just to fragment but to break up into individual condrules that measure between .01 to .5 centimeter across. This stuff can be real hard to find. On the other hand if it broke up because of air pressure then there are probably over 100 kg of meteorite scattered across several square kilometers of western Saskatchewan. Good hunting!

Mr Haag is either famous or infamous in the meteorics community, depending on your point of view. On the one hand he has fund a lot of material that would otherwise have rusted away and made it available to science. On the other hand he has gobbled up a lot of material that would otherwise have gone to scientific research. Several years ago he was busted in Argentina for trying to transport a big iron meteorite out of the country. Never heard how that one came out but my guess is he profited from the exchange.


141 posted on 12/18/2008 9:44:30 PM PST by InABunkerUnderSF (Illegal Immigration is not about the immigration. Gun control is not about the guns.)
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