Largest Meteorite from the huge fireball over the midwest found!

UA meteorite curator Marvin Killgore has found what is to date the largest fragment of an object that exploded in the skies over Wisconsin in April

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/49b917694e2a.jpg[/atsimg]

There were several threads on this "fireball" meteorite that lit up the midwest night's sky. Here is one Huge Fireball Reported Over Madison, WI!

People in southwestern Wisconsin and northern Iowa on April 14 witnessed a sonic boom and a fireball that briefly - and spectacularly - lit up the late evening sky. It was the result of an ancient rock that ended its 4.5 billion year journey through the solar system in a ball of flames entering Earth's atmosphere.

Here is the video for those who don't remember

This particular object was a breccia, a conglomerate of rocks embedded in a fine-grained rock matrix. It most likely came from the asteroid belt orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.

A sample from the meteorite found by a local farmer was sent to the University of Wisconsin and found to contain traces of magnesium, iron and silica compounds, as well as other common minerals like olivine and pyroxene. It also contained iron-nickel metal and iron sulfide, minerals typically found in primitive meteorites discovered on Earth.

There ya go! 1 big space rock!

-E-

[edit on 5-5-2010 by MysterE]

I wonder how the stated length of time of 4.5 billion years was reached. The makeup of the meterorite seems to be of common minerals found here on earth. I guess it just goes to show how everything in our galaxy seems to be made of the same basic elements.

reply to post by azzholio

Everything in the universe is made of the same basic elements. There are 90 of them which occur naturally.

[edit on 5/5/2010 by Phage]

Do meteorites fetch a high price because of how "rare" they are?

I am reading Impact by Douglas Preston (either him or the other writer he always is with) and in it says you can get potentially millions.

Pretty cool nonetheless.

Thanks for the info.

reply to post by Phage


That we know of.

.

reply to post by Phage


Yes Phage I'm well aware of the Periodic Table
I was suppose it was just a simplistic way to say wow its kind of amazing to think that something that's been hurtling around the galaxy for all that time is basically just a small piece of us, showing that we are a part of everything in the universe

its nice to see follow ups of events, although this seems very anticlimatic...


from the OP:

This particular object was a breccia, a conglomerate of rocks embedded in a fine-grained rock matrix. It most likely came from the asteroid belt orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.



A sample from the meteorite found by a local farmer was sent to the University of Wisconsin and found to contain traces of magnesium, iron and silica compounds, as well as other common minerals like olivine and pyroxene. It also contained iron-nickel metal and iron sulfide, minerals typically found in primitive meteorites discovered on Earth

the term 'most likely' came from the asteroid belt is the dead-give-away clue of how the scientists dated the object... they assume it was from the asteroid belt just beyond Mars orbit, which is thought to be 4.5BYO


i think they should cut up the meteorite to see if there are any fossils in the mass...

which by the looks of the pic is not even fist sized...

i would be interested in more Scrutiny in the object because no-body has yet completely disproved that the Asteroid belt is not the remains of a pretty big, water planet that some term "Vulcan"...
it is the focus of the 'EPH' (exploded-planet-hypothesis) made famous last century...

seeing as a particular meteorite found in the Antarctic ice had possible fossiles from Mars imbeded in it... the same study could/should be done on this asteroid belt sample too. imho


of course the sample had a large mixture of Iron-Nickel, which is the same mixture the earths molten core is though to be made of... and we know an Iron-Nickel core sample meteorite, would never have any fossil remains in its interior.


thanks for the news, Star 4 you

[edit on 5-5-2010 by St Udio]

Very cool indeed that the recovered this debris.

That video was quite impressive too, lit the sky up nicely!