Meteors, fireballs, meteorites
You see them in the night sky, a streak of light shoot toward the earth at different angles. Sometimes they are more noticeable, like the August and November. They come to the all the time. Aliens that are so common that most people have seem them and know what they are. They are meteors, fireballs, and meteorites. They are stony or metallic particles that burn in the earth resistant atmosphere.
Meteors also strike the moon leaving many scars. A fireball hitting the planet Jupiter has even been documented. A comet known as Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter in 1994. It exploded as it reached Jupiter’s atmosphere, becoming a great fireball.
Meteors that land the earth are called meteorites. They are scattered all around the earth surface. There are even meteorite hunters, although most are hobbyist than professionals. They can make good money though on some finds
The Canadian Farmers Almanac 2007 has a list of meteorite events and their names. The almanac lists the dates and hourly fall rate. Three hourly fall rates hit the 100 pieces per hour mark are; Quandrantids, Perseids, and Geminids.
Quandrantids occurs in January 3 to 4 a short event in the northeaster Canadian sky. Perseids showers will occur in August 11 12, 2007 also in the northeaster sky. Geminids will occur in December 13 14, 2007 directly from overhead. In November 12 14, the North Taurids will shower slow fireballs.
How to watch
Choose any clear moonless night, although some times are better for hourly shower rates. Check places like space.com or the farmers’ almanac for major meteorite events if you want to get a good night. Dress warmly, even in the summer. Nights are usually colder, quiet a bit colder than the day. Bring a comfortable deck or lawn chair. Bring a blanket. Find a location, which does not have too much night light pollution. A moonless night is also advised, as the moonlight reduces the visibility of meteorite showers. Watching for shooting stars is one of the treats of camping.
The Greenland meteorite
The Cape York Meteorites were used by the Greenlandic Eskimo as resource material for the making of knives and other implements. In 1984 Robert E. Peary is credited with finding the three pieces, because he was an explorer and a white man. His expedition sold them to the American Museum of Natural History for $40,000 none of which went to the Eskimos. The three pieces of meteorite were shipped to New York in 1894, 1895 and 1896. The meteorites are still in public display at the Hayden Planetarium.
Tagish Lake Meteorite
The Tagish Lake Meteorite caused a big cosmic fuss. It fell onto Tagish Lake in The Yukon in January 18, 2000. It is thought to contain some organic matter and froze soon after impact. Due to those two conditions, the market price for this unusual meteorite has been pegged around $250 per gram.
Fireballs
Incredibly a fireball hitting a truck was film. A fireball is a meteor, which explodes close to the earth surface and is obliterated by flames. Such an event is thought to have occurred in June 30, 1908 in Siberia. A 12,000 square mile of taiga forest were toppled over by some massive explosion. Scientists are still trying to come to a conclusion about this event. The forest near the Tunguska River in eastern Siberia were totaled and left lying on the ground.
The Egyptian Glass or Tut’s gem for the boy king Tutankhamen is thought to have originated from a fireball or plume coming down from heaven and kissing the desert sand. The temperature that created the glass is thought to be to high to be of early origin.
100 million meteorites strike the planets atmosphere every 24 hours. Most of these are dust particles or slightly larger than dust and they burn up high and quickly. Watching the shooting stars makes one wonder and live for the moment.
Cool sites
www.farmersalmanac.com
www.space.com
