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C2-ung
TKW 10 kg. Observed fall 18 January 2000, in British Columbia , Canada.
Shawn writes:
Morning Light - The Secret History of the Tagish Lake Fireball
by James Scott Berdahl
Abstract:
On January 18, 2000, a meteoroid 4 meters in diameter
hit the Earth's atmosphere and exploded over the Yukon Territory in
northern Canada. The size of the fireball and the contrail that it left
behind caught the attention of meteoriticists, who suspected it was a
carbonaceous chondrite.
Amongst the public, however, reactions to the
event were varied, and conspiracy theorists emerged, claiming that the
meteor had been a failed weapons test conducted by the United States
military.
A week after the fall, outdoorsman Jim Brook discovered black
meteorites on the frozen surface of Tagish Lake, in northern British
Columbia. He kept the stones pristine: frozen and untouched - a first for
any meteorite fall. He made his discovery known to a few scientists only
after they agreed to confidentiality, and those scientists confirmed
that he had found a carbonaceous chondrite.
Alan Hildebrand and Peter
Brown put together an expedition to recover more fragments of the rare
meteorite, interviewing eyewitnesses to reconstruct the trajectory of
the bolide, but recovery efforts were hampered by deep snow. A second
expedition returned in the spring when, for a short window, the fragile
chondrites were exposed on the melting lake ice, and collection was
successful.
The secrecy surrounding these expeditions contributed to the
idea that a cover-up was taking place; that the meteorite was not real.
But scientific analysis, conducted by Mike Zolensky and many others, has
proven otherwise. The Tagish Lake Meteorite appears to be a new type of
meteorite, with ties to CI and CM type chondrites, possibly from the D
type asteroids. It has the highest concentrations of carbon observed in
any extraterrestrial sample, and an abundance of presolar grains.
Rich
in extraterrestrial organic compounds and containing distinct hollow
organic globules, the primitive meteorite has brought a mini revolution
to the field of meteoritics. It may help us understand the beginnings of
the solar system and the origins of life on Earth. The story of the
fall, recovery and the study of this meteorite highlights the necessary
uncertainties of the scientific method, and the relationship between
science and the general public.
Full story here
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Click to view larger photos #1
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Found at the arrow (green or red) on the map below
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Graham 1/26/2015 7:06:08 AM |
Give them a good shake up and you will end up with more...I think you need to put a wadge of cotton wool or similar in the top to stop them getting shaken around and becoming dust (especially if they are going to be shipped). I came across a University with a bottle of larger Mokoia fragments very similar that were being passed around students and they were just becoming dust. Nice samples Shawn. |
Graham Macleod 1/26/2015 2:36:48 AM |
Now that's a lot of meteorites Ray,
Great way to show them and to study as well.
Thanks for the history as well M8.
Cheers |
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