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



 
 
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Old March 9th 08, 06:54 PM posted to sci.astro
Andrew Yee
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Default 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)
http://communications.uwo.ca/images/...ap-closeup.PNG
(379KB)
* 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

http://communications.uwo.ca/images/...-035908-05.png
(193KB)
* Video File

http://communications.uwo.ca/images/...-035908-05.avi
(13.8MB)


 




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