Now that's really funny! -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081
--- On Sun, 1/24/10, Paul Harris <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Paul Harris <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: First cut at wind-shifted, predicted > impact coordinates > To: "Mike Hankey" <[email protected]> > Cc: "meteoritelist" <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 12:58 PM > Hi Mike, > > Yes, Rob does amazing work and finds an incredible number > of meteorites > too. So many in fact that I often wondered how he was > able to transport > them all home at the end of a hunt. Then one day > while Jim and I were > out hunting I discovered the answer... > > http://www.meteorite.com/rob.jpg > > Jim and I are looking forward to seeing everyone soon at > Tucson! > http://www.meteorite-times.com/tucson/ > > Paul > > > > > Mike Hankey wrote: > > Hi, > > > > Meteor wizard Rob Matson has taken a first crack at > estimating a > > strewnfield for the Lorton Meteorite. > > > > I have plotted the points in Google Earth. You can see > some maps and > > download the KMZ file here: > > > > http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/astro-photos/lorton-meteorite-estimated-strewnfield-version-1/ > > > > Its looking like the Fort Belvoir Golf Course could be > prime hunting grounds. > > > > Rob is the only person I know of who is qualified to > do this type of > > work and willing to share it with the meteorite > community. Rob's work > > has been instrumental in numerous meteorite > discoveries and we all owe > > him a debt of gratitude. > > > > Thanks Rob! > > > > Mike > > > > > > > > > > Hi Guys, > > > > I've done some serious data-gathering and > number-crunching > > today to come up with a hunting corridor for you. Here > are > > my current best assumptions based on witness > observations, > > images of the dust cloud, the impact location, and > upper > > atmospheric radiosonde data for the balloon launched > from > > Sterling, VA, about an hour after the fall: > > > > Entry angle: ~55-60 degrees from horizontal (i.e. > steep) > > Flight direction: Azimuth +191 (11 degrees west > of south) > > Average wind velocity from 5-16 km altitude: 70 > knots > > Average wind direction from 5-16 km altitude: Az > 90 (east) > > > > Using an example break-up altitude of 25 km at an > initial > > velocity of 15 km/sec, the rotation of the strewn > field > > relative to flight direction ends up being 40-50 deg > clockwise, > > which is quite significant. Here are where masses of > various > > sizes end up, both in Lat/Long and distance/bearing > from the > > 308 g find: > > > > Mass Longitude Latitude > Dist (mi) Bearing > > ------- --------- -------- --------- > ------- > > 3 g -77.12929 > 38.73888 5.2 > 59.3 > > 5 g -77.14419 > 38.73268 4.3 > 58.7 > > 15 g -77.16179 38.72688 > 3.2 56.0 > > 40 g -77.18079 38.71908 > 2.1 52.6 > > 120 g -77.19569 38.71088 > 1.1 50.6 > > (308 g) -77.21159 38.70068 > -0- N/A > > 1150 g -77.22609 38.69048 > 1.1 228.0 > > 3750 g -77.24249 38.67848 > 2.3 227.4 > > > > The reason the masses aren't round numbers is that my > program > > includes ablation, so while the simulated stones > started off > > with nice round numbers like 100 g and 1 kg at > altitude, the > > ablated masses are a fraction of the original. > > > > So where are these locations? The 120-gram mass ends > up near > > Rhondda Drive, a couple hundred meters NW of Richmond > Highway > > and Telegraph Rd. The 40-gram mass ends up on the > north end > > of Ft. Belvoir. The simulated 15-grammer ends up on > the Ft. > > Belvoir golf course. But 5-gram stones would be off > the base > > to its north, north of John J. Kingman Rd. And 3-gram > stones > > end up in the southwest corner of Huntley Meadows > Park. > > > > Going in the other direction (heavier masses), the > ~1.1 kilo > > simulated mass above ends up very close to I-95, a > little > > west of Morris Ginsberg & Co. And the > largest mass I ran > > crosses over to the other side of I-95 on Landfill > Drive. ;-) > > > > If you connect all these dots, you should find quite a > bit > > of searchable real estate. My advice is on a map > to draw a > > 45 degree angle southwest of the doctor's office for > heavier > > stones, and a ~55-degree angle NE of the 308-g find > for the > > lighter stuff (that's 55-degrees clockwise from > north). > > > > I'll continue to search for better observations that > can > > yield a more accurate entry angle. We really > need a good > > observer who had a side view of the event and can tell > us > > what the slope was like relative to the horizon. > --Rob > > ______________________________________________ > > Visit the Archives at > > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > > Meteorite-list mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
