(meteorobs) [meteorite-list] West, Texas meteorite finds

[ensoramanda at ntlworld.com]

Quick...make an offer for the dog!

Thanks for the interesting update/report.

Graham Ensor UK

---- mexicodoug at aim.com wrote: 
> Hello from Sunny Texas, under clear and starry-eyed skies at the moment,
> 
> A few stones were found right at the time of the fall, however, they 
> were not definitively identified as meteorites - though that was the 
> suspicion and they were saved.
> 
> We (Doug Dawn, Dmitry Sadilenko, Sergey Petukov) drove across the 
> country and estimated the location of the strewn field within 48 hours 
> of the event. With a bit of tenacity, scarcely four hours after the 
> second day, thanks to the help of some Texas-sized hospitality, we 
> arrived in the strewn field and found our first couple of stones and I 
> had the distinct pleasure of shaking the finders hand and removing any 
> lingering doubts in his mind that he had meteorites fresh from Heaven's 
> farm.
> 
> After the initial success, my good friend and asteroidhunter, Rob 
> Matson of Los Angeles, joined up with the team. We have found some 
> stones, but more are being found by others, and we really expect larger 
> masses to be found, though hard work in the field definitely gets you 
> wondering if just because such a meteoritical spectacle drops one 
> stone, should it drop the thousands we keep expecting to see? The TKW 
> is rapidly evolving, but the area is being hit quite hard by hunters 
> already. This doesn't seem to be a dense fall, and some areas are very 
> easy to search, though bramble in other areas effectively keeps those 
> off limits. All land is private and most families keep their gun 
> collections well oiled. In our case, the big-hearts of the landowners 
> have humbled easily as much as the witness reports of the bolide's 
> fragmenting itself. This is at odds with some other reports, only 
> because residents of the area treasure their privacy and were 
> completely overwhelmed by the wave of treasure hunters that descended. 
> We almost lost our permission to hunt when they believed that we were 
> somehow responsible for several meteorite hunters showing up with a 
> news crews. Besides being quite busy, I promised to respect the 
> anonymity of our hosts as a condition of our search, and this evening 
> we reaped the benefits of a delicious home-cooked dinner prepared by 
> the caring hands of our hosts at their dinner table. There is a great 
> Texas steakhouse on I-35 which adds to the flavor for anyone wanting to 
> experience Texas culture, cowboys and pretty cowgirls from West, TX.
> 
> It has been an incredible last few days, which started by being the 
> first to walk in a virgin strewn field, though my mother had some 
> problems (she seems better now) that have somewhat muted what will 
> undoubtedly be some of the most memorable moments of my life. It is way 
> past bedtime and I will post more tomorrow. The meteorite itself is 
> moderately to highly shocked and has a very bright, light, interior and 
> veins of troilite and nodules of metal, and the majority of stones 
> found are fully fusion crusted. More on the classification on Saturday. 
> We certainly were not in a mass-laden portion of the strewn field, 
> other hunters please take note; more likely just a place where a minor 
> fragmentation impacted. In any case, we are committed to getting the 
> science done so everyone else can rest assured that we have already 
> gladly provided the mass requirements necessary for this honor.
> 
> All in all, a very humbling experience for many reasons. To pick up a 
> piece of a falling star and I thought, detect a faint sulfurous odor. 
> It seems a dog even caught the scent of a meteorite and laid it down on 
> the owners porch!
> 
> Best wishes and clear skies
> Doug
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pat Branch <pat_branch at yahoo.com>
> To: drtanuki at yahoo.com; Global Meteor Observing Forum 
> <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
> Sent: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 9:28 am
> Subject: Re: (meteorobs) West, Texas meteorite finds
> 
> 
> The University of North Texas Astronomers have found 4 so far. I saw a
> video clip of them. The biggest is about 3 times the others...just
> about palm sized.
> 
> I think that is 4 for Farmer and 4 for UNT. I have not heard of other
> teams finding anything.
> 
> 
> --- In meteorobs at yahoogroups.com, drtanuki <drtanuki at ...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear List,
> > Here are the latest reports from the West, Texas fall.
> >
> > http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/
> >
> > Best Regards, Dirk Ross...Tokyo
> > _______________________________________________
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