Meteorite hits houses

arcticpenguin · 28th September 2003, 03:16 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3146692.stm

Quote:

At least 20 people are reported to have been injured after a meteorite crashed to Earth in eastern India.

Reports say hundreds of people in the state of Orissa panicked when the fireball streamed across the sky.

Burning fragments were said to have fallen over a wide area, destroying several houses.
...
The only recorded fatality from a meteor was an Egyptian dog that had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in 1911.

It would be a bummer to have your home wrecked 'out of the blue' like that, but it would give you something to talk about.

Ed · 28th September 2003, 04:48 PM

"Burning fragments"? Meteorites are cold.

Shinytop · 28th September 2003, 04:55 PM

I think meteorites might gain a little temperature coming in through the atmosphere, don't you? Do you think the Apollo spacecraft made its own heat on reentry?

WildCat · 28th September 2003, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shinytop
I think meteorites might gain a little temperature coming in through the atmosphere, don't you? Do you think the Apollo spacecraft made its own heat on reentry?

Actually, they lose that heat quickly once the atmosphere slows them down. You could pick one up and it would not be hot.

a_unique_person · 28th September 2003, 06:37 PM

Spacejunk?

Mr Manifesto · 28th September 2003, 06:54 PM

From Bad Astonomy by Phil Plait:

Quote:

(the process of heating up on entering the atmosphere)- the huge compresson of air, the heating of the surface, and the ablation of the melted outer parts- happen very high in the atmosphere, at altitudes of tens of kilometers. The energy of the meteroid's motion is quickly dissipated, slowing it down rapidly. The meteroid slows to below the speed of sound, at which point the air in front is no longer greatly compressed and the meteor stops glowing.

(snip)

This leads to yet another misconception about meteors. In practically every movie or television program I have ever seen, small meteorites hit the ground and start fires. But this isn't the way it really happens. Meteroids spend most of their lives in deep space and are, therefore, very cold...

I'll leave out the rest because Phil goes on to say some very interesting things which he's taken the trouble to write in a book intended for sale. If you want more, buy the book. But suffice to say, meteors hitting the ground hot happen very, very, very rarely. Keep in mind, too, that the Columbia broke up in the high atmosphere, and the pieces were obviously cool enough for people to pick up and put in the back of their trucks when they hit the ground.

Still don't believe me? Log on to the Bad Astronomy bulletin board, and ask the many astonomers who regularly post there.

Ed · 28th September 2003, 07:08 PM

Sometimes they are covered with frost when they are found.

Ye of little faith. Doubting my truths.

We'll just see how you like a plague or two.

And, as you suffer, I will

Tez · 28th September 2003, 07:11 PM

Meteorites are quite valuable IIRC, so these guys basically had money raining down on them...

Shinytop · 28th September 2003, 08:42 PM

Never let it be said I cannot learn. Today I learned that typical meteorites striking the Earth are no longer hot.

Chupacabras · 28th September 2003, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tez
... so these guys basically had money raining down on them...

Aside of the scientific interest, there's a well organized market fo meteorites. Sometimes they can be worth about $1.00 USD a gram, bue some others, namely martian or moon meteorites, if found in the right conditions (ie in antarctica = barely polluted) can go to a whooping $50,000 USD a gram. In some countries, such as Argentina, meteorites are considered state property, and marketing is illegal. Altough in the US it is legal to trade or market meteorites, some sites such as the crater in Arizona strictly forbid picking up specimens from the ground.

BTW, I just went yesterday to a new museum in town and saw for myself the "only meteorite on display in the state" - it really qualifies as real (to my amateur eyes, anyway) and it is incredibly (and to my delight) hughe. The guide estimated it at about 200 Kg, and was picked up in 1936.

Edited to add a few useful links:
Learn About Meteorites
Schoner's Meteorite Identification
International Meteorite Brokerage
JPL Mars Meteorites page

Charlie Monoxide · 29th September 2003, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Never let it be said I cannot learn. Today I learned that typical meteorites striking the Earth are no longer hot.

I'll amen that. I too considered Hollywood movies to be a few degrees short of a documentary.

Charlie (still reserve the right to change me mind) Monoxide

Crossbow · 29th September 2003, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3146692.stm

It would be a bummer to have your home wrecked 'out of the blue' like that, but it would give you something to talk about.

Well then, as far as I know, that still means that there is only one person in recorded history who has actually been hit by a metorite and that would be Mrs. Hewlett Hodges, of Alabama in 1954.

http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znp12011954bt.html

Of course, if AP, or anyone else, has some updated data then I would like to hear of it.

hammegk · 29th September 2003, 07:45 AM

On the hot/cold question, if incoming is still at mach x 10**x>1 at surface impact, there should be surface heat, huh?

Of course the real "heat"(and a lot of it) would be impact generated, I'd say.

ceo_esq · 29th September 2003, 08:02 AM

Phil's site suggests that most meteorites hit the ground neither cold nor superhot, but rather warm - the meteorite heats up as it passes through the atmosphere but the hottest parts are melted and stripped away before impact, leaving just the warm part.

I would imagine that the impact of a large and fast-moving meteorite converts enough kinetic energy into heat to raise the immediately surrounding temperature quite a bit.

arcticpenguin · 29th September 2003, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crossbow

Well then, as far as I know, that still means that there is only one person in recorded history who has actually been hit by a metorite and that would be Mrs. Hewlett Hodges, of Alabama in 1954.

http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znp12011954bt.html

Of course, if AP, or anyone else, has some updated data then I would like to hear of it.

No, I can't beat that. I know there was a woman whose car was hit by a meteorite, but property damage can't compare with a direct hit.

Bluegill · 29th September 2003, 08:42 AM

The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because:

1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite?

2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object.

??

Psiload · 29th September 2003, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bluegill
The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because:

1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite?

2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object.

??

No, the Tunguska object doesn't count because it was actually a crashed alien spaceship...

What? I saw it on an old In Search Of episode... Mr. Spock wouldn't mislead me, would he?

Crossbow · 29th September 2003, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Psiload
No, the Tunguska object doesn't count because it was actually a crashed alien spaceship...

What? I saw it on an old In Search Of episode... Mr. Spock wouldn't mislead me, would he?

Too right Pisload!

The authorities just want you to think that the event was due to an exploding metorite, but we who watched Nimoy in his I am not Spock period know better!

Rocky · 29th September 2003, 09:53 AM

I bought my brother a Meteorite for his 40th birthday. It's a nice fist sized hunk and would hurt to drop it in your foot. The guy I got if from has a tiny bit of a moon Meteorite and a gram or so of a Mars Meteorite. I got to touch a piece of Mars.

SteveW · 29th September 2003, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bluegill
The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because:

1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite?

2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object.

??

The Tunguska object was definitley NOT a meteorite. It was most likely a comet. There was a Russian scientist (his name escapes me), that investigated the area from about 1920 to the late 30's. Although he was convinced that the area was a meteor impact, photographs of the area that were hidden from him prove that, whatever it was, was not a meteor. Personally, I subscribe to the comet theory.

28th September 2003, 03:16 PM	#1
arcticpenguin woo ban clan Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 5,717	Meteorite hits houses http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3146692.stm Quote: At least 20 people are reported to have been injured after a meteorite crashed to Earth in eastern India. Reports say hundreds of people in the state of Orissa panicked when the fireball streamed across the sky. Burning fragments were said to have fallen over a wide area, destroying several houses. ... The only recorded fatality from a meteor was an Egyptian dog that had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in 1911. It would be a bummer to have your home wrecked 'out of the blue' like that, but it would give you something to talk about.
	__________________ The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it. - George Bernard Shaw

28th September 2003, 04:48 PM	#2
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	"Burning fragments"? Meteorites are cold.
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	__________________ "The history of science is the record of dead religions" Phrases And Philosophies For The Use Of The Young Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Our Guarentee: One obscure (or not) Python reference per day.

28th September 2003, 04:55 PM	#3
Shinytop Thinker Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 238	I think meteorites might gain a little temperature coming in through the atmosphere, don't you? Do you think the Apollo spacecraft made its own heat on reentry?
Shinytop Thinker Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 238	__________________ We are ruled by a plethora of Constitutional morons.

28th September 2003, 06:37 PM	#5
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Mt Disappointment Posts: 33,334	Spacejunk?
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. For if a man pretend to me that God hath spoken to him supernaturally, and immediately, and I make doubt of it, I cannot easily perceive what argument he can produce to oblige me to believe it. Hobbes

28th September 2003, 07:08 PM	#7
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	Sometimes they are covered with frost when they are found. Ye of little faith. Doubting my truths. We'll just see how you like a plague or two. And, as you suffer, I will
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	__________________ "The history of science is the record of dead religions" Phrases And Philosophies For The Use Of The Young Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Our Guarentee: One obscure (or not) Python reference per day.

28th September 2003, 06:34 PM	#4
WildCat NWO Master Conspirator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albany Park, Chicago Posts: 49,111	Quote: Originally posted by Shinytop I think meteorites might gain a little temperature coming in through the atmosphere, don't you? Do you think the Apollo spacecraft made its own heat on reentry? Actually, they lose that heat quickly once the atmosphere slows them down. You could pick one up and it would not be hot.

28th September 2003, 06:54 PM	#6
Mr Manifesto Hierophant Walrus of the Secret Clique Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 4,824	From Bad Astonomy by Phil Plait: Quote: (the process of heating up on entering the atmosphere)- the huge compresson of air, the heating of the surface, and the ablation of the melted outer parts- happen very high in the atmosphere, at altitudes of tens of kilometers. The energy of the meteroid's motion is quickly dissipated, slowing it down rapidly. The meteroid slows to below the speed of sound, at which point the air in front is no longer greatly compressed and the meteor stops glowing. (snip) This leads to yet another misconception about meteors. In practically every movie or television program I have ever seen, small meteorites hit the ground and start fires. But this isn't the way it really happens. Meteroids spend most of their lives in deep space and are, therefore, very cold... I'll leave out the rest because Phil goes on to say some very interesting things which he's taken the trouble to write in a book intended for sale. If you want more, buy the book. But suffice to say, meteors hitting the ground hot happen very, very, very rarely. Keep in mind, too, that the Columbia broke up in the high atmosphere, and the pieces were obviously cool enough for people to pick up and put in the back of their trucks when they hit the ground. Still don't believe me? Log on to the Bad Astronomy bulletin board, and ask the many astonomers who regularly post there.

28th September 2003, 07:11 PM	#8
Tez Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: London Posts: 1,104	Meteorites are quite valuable IIRC, so these guys basically had money raining down on them...
	__________________ "There's two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” --Enrico Fermi www.physicsnerd.com

28th September 2003, 08:42 PM	#9
Shinytop Thinker Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 238	Never let it be said I cannot learn. Today I learned that typical meteorites striking the Earth are no longer hot.
Shinytop Thinker Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 238	__________________ We are ruled by a plethora of Constitutional morons.

28th September 2003, 11:05 PM	#10
Chupacabras Illuminator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Fascistoland. Posts: 3,487	Quote: Originally posted by Tez ... so these guys basically had money raining down on them... Aside of the scientific interest, there's a well organized market fo meteorites. Sometimes they can be worth about $1.00 USD a gram, bue some others, namely martian or moon meteorites, if found in the right conditions (ie in antarctica = barely polluted) can go to a whooping $50,000 USD a gram. In some countries, such as Argentina, meteorites are considered state property, and marketing is illegal. Altough in the US it is legal to trade or market meteorites, some sites such as the crater in Arizona strictly forbid picking up specimens from the ground. BTW, I just went yesterday to a new museum in town and saw for myself the "only meteorite on display in the state" - it really qualifies as real (to my amateur eyes, anyway) and it is incredibly (and to my delight) hughe. The guide estimated it at about 200 Kg, and was picked up in 1936. Edited to add a few useful links: Learn About Meteorites Schoner's Meteorite Identification International Meteorite Brokerage JPL Mars Meteorites page
	__________________ "TEAR DOWN THE WALL!!!"

29th September 2003, 06:59 AM	#11
Charlie Monoxide Wag Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London, Ontario Posts: 2,761	Quote: Never let it be said I cannot learn. Today I learned that typical meteorites striking the Earth are no longer hot. I'll amen that. I too considered Hollywood movies to be a few degrees short of a documentary. Charlie (still reserve the right to change me mind) Monoxide
	__________________ Major General Wag of JREF

29th September 2003, 07:36 AM	#12
Crossbow Seeking Honesty and Sanity Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,294	Re: Meteorite hits houses Quote: Originally posted by arcticpenguin http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3146692.stm It would be a bummer to have your home wrecked 'out of the blue' like that, but it would give you something to talk about. Well then, as far as I know, that still means that there is only one person in recorded history who has actually been hit by a metorite and that would be Mrs. Hewlett Hodges, of Alabama in 1954. http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znp12011954bt.html Of course, if AP, or anyone else, has some updated data then I would like to hear of it.
	__________________ A man's best friend is his dogma.

29th September 2003, 07:45 AM	#13
hammegk Banned Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 8,422	On the hot/cold question, if incoming is still at mach x 10**x>1 at surface impact, there should be surface heat, huh? Of course the real "heat"(and a lot of it) would be impact generated, I'd say.
hammegk Banned Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 8,422

29th September 2003, 08:02 AM	#14
ceo_esq Illuminator Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 4,940	Phil's site suggests that most meteorites hit the ground neither cold nor superhot, but rather warm - the meteorite heats up as it passes through the atmosphere but the hottest parts are melted and stripped away before impact, leaving just the warm part. I would imagine that the impact of a large and fast-moving meteorite converts enough kinetic energy into heat to raise the immediately surrounding temperature quite a bit.
ceo_esq Illuminator Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 4,940

29th September 2003, 08:16 AM	#15
arcticpenguin woo ban clan Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 5,717	Re: Re: Meteorite hits houses Quote: Originally posted by Crossbow Well then, as far as I know, that still means that there is only one person in recorded history who has actually been hit by a metorite and that would be Mrs. Hewlett Hodges, of Alabama in 1954. http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znp12011954bt.html Of course, if AP, or anyone else, has some updated data then I would like to hear of it. No, I can't beat that. I know there was a woman whose car was hit by a meteorite, but property damage can't compare with a direct hit.
	__________________ The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it. - George Bernard Shaw

29th September 2003, 08:42 AM	#16
Bluegill Graduate Poster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Louisville Posts: 1,188	Re: Re: Re: Meteorite hits houses The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because: 1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite? 2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object. ??

29th September 2003, 09:36 AM	#17
Psiload Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,105	Re: Re: Re: Re: Meteorite hits houses Quote: Originally posted by Bluegill The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because: 1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite? 2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object. ?? No, the Tunguska object doesn't count because it was actually a crashed alien spaceship... What? I saw it on an old In Search Of episode... Mr. Spock wouldn't mislead me, would he?
Psiload Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,105	__________________ You're not the boss of me.

29th September 2003, 09:52 AM	#18
Crossbow Seeking Honesty and Sanity Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,294	Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meteorite hits houses Quote: Originally posted by Psiload No, the Tunguska object doesn't count because it was actually a crashed alien spaceship... What? I saw it on an old In Search Of episode... Mr. Spock wouldn't mislead me, would he? Too right Pisload! The authorities just want you to think that the event was due to an exploding metorite, but we who watched Nimoy in his I am not Spock period know better!
	__________________ A man's best friend is his dogma.

29th September 2003, 09:53 AM	#19
Rocky The Flying Squirrel Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: So. Cal. Posts: 296	I bought my brother a Meteorite for his 40th birthday. It's a nice fist sized hunk and would hurt to drop it in your foot. The guy I got if from has a tiny bit of a moon Meteorite and a gram or so of a Mars Meteorite. I got to touch a piece of Mars.
	__________________ To Make it work - you must Believe. That's called “Make-Believe” "ROCKY! Do you have to beat off the women with a stick driving that thing!!!! WHoa baby!!! What do you do with it??? Is it for speed trials or racing or what. Looks FAST! Driving that, as a woman I can assure you any man that drives a cool race car is good in bed. It's just a fact of life." -Kittynh

29th September 2003, 10:32 AM	#20
SteveW Critical Thinker Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 265	Re: Re: Re: Re: Meteorite hits houses Quote: Originally posted by Bluegill The news article says that the only recorded fatality is a Egyptian dog. But weren't there lots of reindeer (and presumably some other animals) found dead in Tunguska? Maybe that doesn't count, though, because: 1) For some reason, the Tunguska object isn't technically considered a meteor? Or maybe, since it didn't hit the ground, it's not a meteorite, so the animals it killed weren't technically killed by a meteorite? 2) Too long a time had passed between the event and the time researchers got to the area (some years passed, IIRC.) Therefore, the deaths of lots of animals was assumed, but any remains found were very decomposed and scattered and could not be individually attributed to the exploding object. ?? The Tunguska object was definitley NOT a meteorite. It was most likely a comet. There was a Russian scientist (his name escapes me), that investigated the area from about 1920 to the late 30's. Although he was convinced that the area was a meteor impact, photographs of the area that were hidden from him prove that, whatever it was, was not a meteor. Personally, I subscribe to the comet theory.
SteveW Critical Thinker Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 265