What is a meteorite?

Filed under: by: adminix

This post is related on my entry below.

Here are some descriptive facts about a meteorite taken from Wikipedia:

A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives an impact with the Earth's surface. While in space it is called a meteoroid. When it enters the atmosphere, impact pressure causes the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting star. The term bolide refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.

More generally, a meteorite on the surface of any celestial body is a natural object that has come from elsewhere in space. Meteorites have been found on the Moon and Mars.

Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transited the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called falls. All other meteorites are known as finds. As of mid-2006, there are approximately 1,050 witnessed falls having specimens in the world's collections. In contrast, there are over 31,000 well-documented meteorite finds.

Meteorites are always named for the place where they were found,[5] usually a nearby town or geographic feature. One notable exception is Barringer Crater (commonly referred to as Meteor Crater) in Arizona which is named after a man who posited that it was formed in an impact with an extraterrestrial object. In cases where many meteorites were found in one place, the name may be followed by a number or letter (e.g., Allan Hills 84001 or Dimmitt (b)). Some meteorites have informal nicknames: the Sylacauga meteorite is sometimes called the "Hodges meteorite" after Ann Hodges, the woman who was struck by it; the Canyon Diablo meteorite, which formed Meteor Crater has dozens of these aliases. However, the single, official name designated by the Meteoritical Society is used by scientists, catalogers, and most collectors.

Large Meteor falling over Canada?

Filed under: by: adminix

Everyday, I always make it a point to browse yahoo or msn and look for the latest news across the globe. I rarely find time watching news over the tv. Hey afterall its the 21st century. Anything is possible on the net now.

Back to the original topic, I saw this catchy topic on a meteor hitting Earth over Western Canada. Interesting eh? Of course, there's a matching video footage from people who witnessed the fascinating scene from the sky.

From USAToday:

University of Calgary planetary scientist Alan Hildebrand called it one of the largest meteors visible in the country in the last decade.

Widely broadcast video images showed what appeared to be a speeding fireball Thursday night over Saskatoon that became larger and brighter before disappearing as it neared the ground.

Hildebrand said Friday that he received about 300 email reports from witnesses.

"It would be something like a billion-watt light bulb," said Hildebrand, who also co-ordinates meteor sightings with the Canadian Space Agency.


This was taken by a Police cam over Edmonton, Canada:




Now the question is, where are the meteorites? Answer. Fallen to pieces... :p

Say no to UFOs!

Current Mood: Happy

Welcome to my Blog!

Filed under: by: adminix

Oh Well. This is my fourth attempt so far of 'serious' blogging. From a personal blog to a website to a not so popular tech blog, here I go again. Hopefully things will turn out just fine. Being a techsupport/linuxadmin/networking newbie/, is not easy. I really have a busy sched 'partly handling some servers in a data center, I wish I can still find time in updating this blog. This book over here will serve as an online journal of my everyday rants and ramblings with this crazy world.

Well folks, so much for now. Talk to you soon...