(meteorobs) [Astro] Bruce & Frank's extraordinary adventure

Ross Sinclair ross_sinclair at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 29 03:36:03 EST 2008


Fabulous trip Bruce!  Great to hear it firsthand...

Ross

--------------------------------------------------
From: <bmccurdy at telusplanet.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 12:19 AM
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Cc: <rascals at lists.rasc.ca>; <astro at mailman.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject: [Astro] Bruce & Frank's extraordinary adventure

> Hello from Marsden, Saskatchewan. I'm delighted to report that I was on 
> hand
> today as the media horde descended on a farm just south of Lone Rock (!), 
> SK,
> where several meteorite fragments were found frozen in a slough. It was 
> quite
> the scene, with some 35 media people meeting at a fast food restaurant in
> Lloydminster, with some 20 vehicles joining a convoy for a 20-minute drive 
> to
> the site. Plus a helicopter!
>
> These meteorites, recovered by Ellen Milley and Alan Hildebrand of the
> University of Calgary, have been tentatively identified as ordinary 
> chondrites
> of Type 5 or 6. Dr. Hildebrand estimates that some thousands of meteorites 
> may
> have fallen in a strewn field some 3 by 8 km in extent.
>
> Later as Frank and I roamed the area hoping to find a meteorite or two 
> that may
> have fallen on crown land, we encountered another fellow with an astronomy
> interest who suggested we go to the Marsden Hotel pub about 20 km to the 
> south.
> Here we saw an extraordinary site -- a 13 kilogram meteorite which had 
> been
> recovered by an enterprising rock hound. It was a monster, somewhat larger 
> than
> a human head. My fellow adventurer Frank Florian quickly confirmed it was
> indeed a meteorite, and somehow Alan Hildebrand caught wind of it and 
> arrived a
> couple hours later for a look-see. He too immediately confirmed its
> extraterrestrial origin. Where it was found and who actually owns the 
> thing
> remains an open question at this point.
>
> Needless to say, though, it was a huge hit at the pub where the locals 
> were
> passing it around and examining it carefully. Given it had already been 
> handled
> rather excessively, there was no point in passing up the opportunity to 
> pick up
> and hold this object which is simultaneously one of the newest and one of 
> the
> oldest rocks on Earth. What a tremendous thrill to say the least.
>
> The combined observation of seeing the fireball, observing some of its
> meteorites _in situ_, and now having touched a large member of the family 
> ranks
> very high on my Life List.
>
> More adventuring tomorrow; I'll write a more detailed report once we 
> return to
> Edmonton.
>
> Bruce
> *****
>
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