U.Western Ontario astronomers on hunt for meteor (Forwarded)

Media Relations
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff Renaud, Media Relations Officer
519-661-2111, ext. 85165

Friday, March 7, 2008

Western astronomers on hunt for meteor
By Communications Staff

Astronomers from The University of Western Ontario have captured rare video
of a meteor falling to Earth, and are hoping to enlist the help of local
residents in recovering one or more possible meteorites that may have
crashed in the Parry Sound area.

The Physics and Astronomy Department at Western has a network of all-sky
cameras in Southern Ontario that scan the sky monitoring for meteors.
Associate Professor Peter Brown, who specializes in the study of meteors and
meteorites, says that Wednesday evening (March 5) at 10:59 p.m. EST these
cameras captured video of a large fireball and the department has also
received a number of calls and emails from people who actually saw the
light.

Brown along with Wayne Edwards, a post doctorate student, are now working to
get the word out among interested people who may be willing to see if they
can spot any fallen meteorites.

"Most meteoroids burn up by the time they hit an altitude of 60 or 70
kilometres from Earth," says Edwards. "We tracked this one to an altitude of
about 24 kilometres so we are pretty sure there are at least one, and
possibly many meteorites, that made it to the ground."

Edwards says the lab can narrow the ground location where the meteorite
would have fallen, to about 12 square kilometres and have created a map that
may assist in locating the meteorite. The rock, or rocks, would probably
weigh a kilogram or slightly more.

"We would love to find a recovered meteorite on this one, because we have
the video and we have the data and by putting that together with the
meteorite, there is a lot to be learned."

Wayne Edwards is available for interviews and/or to report finds at
519-850-2385. He can also be reached via email at wedwards @ uwo.ca

RELATED LINKS

* Map (Zoom)
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* Map (Full Version 1)
http://communications.uwo.ca/images/...s/Map-full.PNG (503KB)
* Map (Full Version 2)
http://communications.uwo.ca/images/.../Map-full2.PNG (504KB)
* Image

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* Video File
http://communications.uwo.ca/images/...-035908-05.avi
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