DENNIS di CICCO (1983) Target Wethersfield - Wethersfield meteorite: The odds were astronomical (Sky & Telescope, 1983 Feb., pp 118-119):
A preliminary examination made at the Smithsonian revealed that the stone was an L6 chondrite (the most common type of meteorite found on Earth). Furthermore, it is almost identical in type to the one that hit Wethersfield in 1971. The main difference between them is that the earlier object showed more signs of having withstood violent shock due to preterrestrial impacting. The stone was shipped to John Evans of Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Washington, where it was studied for the effects of cosmic-ray exposure while in space. In this way the meteorite was used as a probe to determine how cosmic-ray intensity within the solar system varies with time. As an aside, Evans notes that the radioisotope cobalt-60 was below detectable levels in the stone. From this he deduced that it was probably not part of a considerably larger body when it hit the Earth's atmosphere. The fireball associated with the meteorite's passage through the air was widely observed across New England, New York, and New Jersey. David Menke of the Central Connecticut State College (CCSC) Copernican Observatory collected eyewitness reports. In the days following the event he fielded hundreds of telephone calls from persons who saw the fireball. According to Menke, most observers claim that the object broke into three or more pieces during its flight. This gave rise to the speculation that more fragments might be located around Wethersfield. Also, the thin fusion crust suggests that the meteorite is part of a larger body that broke up in the atmosphere. ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
