Meteorites: The poor man’s space probe

1. Meteorites: The poor man’s space probe From Earth’s Moon: ~35 From Mars: ~35 From asteroids: >22,000

3. Asteroid Eros – Orbited by NEAR* spacecraft in 2000 * NEAR = Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission. Eros is ~31 km in longest dimension

5. The fall of one of the oldest preserved meteorites, on Nov. 16, 1492, at Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine

6. The fall of one of the oldest preserved meteorites, on Nov. 16, 1492, at Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine

7. Contemporary report of the fall on Nov. 16, 1492, of the Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine, meteorite

8. Meeting of the “Friends of the Ensißheim Meteorite”

9. Use of meteoritic iron in the manufacture of swords and knifes

10. E.F.F. Chladni (1756-1827) was the first to recognize that meteorites fall to Earth from space. In 1994, McCoy, Steele, Keil, Leonard and Endreß named a new mineral, a Na-Ca-Mg phosphate from the Carlton iron meteorite (and unknown from earth rocks) chladniite in his honor

11. Definitions Meteoroid: An object > a molecule < asteroid traveling in space Meteor: The light phenomenon associated with a meteoroid passing through Earth’s atmosphere Meteorite: A meteoroid after it landed on Earth or any other planetary surface Meteorite fall: A recovered meteorite that was seen to fall Meteorite find: A recovered meteorite without a record of its fall Meteorite names: After landmarks near their place of fall or find (e.g. the Honolulu meteorite) Meteorites recovered in areas with a lack of landmarks (e.g., Antarctica, Sahara desert), are named after the general area of recovery, and given a number (e.g., ALH84001; Sahara 97166)

12. Antarctica is best place to find meteorites on Earth!

13. Searching for meteorites, 1992 - 1993

15. Flow of ice from center of Antarctica to the coast concentrates meteorites up-slope from mountains

17. Hoba, South Africa, at 60 tons, is the largest iron meteorite preserved in one piece. Find, 1920.

18. Hoba, South Africa

19. Hoba, South Africa

20. Ahnighito (Cape York), Greenland, 31 tons, now in the American Museum of Natural History, N.Y.

21. Agpalilik, Greenland, 20 tons

22. Agpalilik, Greenland, being loaded on a US Air Force vessel for transport to Denmark

23. Mundrabilla, Australia, 22 tons

24. Willamette, Oregon, 14.2 tons

25. Morito, Mexico, 11 tons

26. Jilin, China, stone meteorite impact pit

27. Jilin, China, stone meteorite, 1.7 tons, fall, March 8, 1976

28. Jilin, China, 1.7 ton stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite)

29. Norton County, Kansas, 1 ton, stone meteorite (aubrite), fall, February 18, 1948.

30. The flight-oriented Horace, Kansas, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite. Find, 1940; side view.

31. The flight-oriented Horace, Kansas, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite. Find, 1940; front view.

32. Benld, Illinois, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite) fall, September 29, 1938.

33. Sylacauga, Alabama, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite) fall, November 30, 1954, weight 5.6 kg. Hit roof, crashed through ceiling, and hit Mrs. Hodges on the upper thigh.

34. Sylacauga, Alabama, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite) fall, November 30, 1954, weight 5.6 kg. Hit roof, crashed through ceiling, and hit Mrs. Hodges on the upper thigh.

35. Peekskill, N.Y. stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite), fall, October 9, 1992, weight 12.6 kg. Hit Michelle Knapp’s car parked before her house.

36. Damage to Michelle Knapp’s car, by the fall of the Peekskill stone meteorite fall, October 9, 1992.

37. The happy Knapp family with the Keepskill stone meyeorite

38. The Keepskill ordinary chondrite