Did a Quadrantid Meteor Strike My Observatory Dome?

My aluminum-domed observatory
http://www.primordial-light.com/observatory.html is located at 39°
04' 40.61" N, 76° 39' 33.46" W. I was in the observatory at
approximately 2300 EST on the night of 6 January, 2012, when I heard a
very loud and startling metallic clang that could only have resulted
from something solid striking the aluminum dome. The outside
temperature was about 30°F and winds were calm.

I have never seen a "UFO." You who know me know that when I rant and
rave it's not about skulls on the Moon or blood on Mars. I don't
/really/ believe that there's a statue of Elvis on Mars, though I think
there ought to be. I have never seen a meteor strike the ground or, to
the best of my knowledge, been near a meteor strike. Like all amateur
astronomers, I have seen my share of meteors and bolides burning up in
the atmosphere--though I do not see them when I am inside my
observatory watching a computer display.

When I heard the loud noise I thought, only for the briefest and
scariest instant, that somehow one of two Takahashi telescopes had
fallen off my A-P 1200 GTO mount--but I was watching a graph of
guide-star tracking on the PHD guiding-software display on a MacBook
Pro display at the time. There was no disruption in tracking, not even
a little spike, which immediately ruled out any accident associated
with the pier/mount/telescopes/camera chain. And the sound was that of
something striking an expanse of sheet metal. Imagine hitting a steel
trash can with a hammer.

I decided to wait a few seconds for the camera exposure to finish, then
I turned on a white incandescent workshop ("trouble') lamp. A thorough
inspection of the observatory interior showed nothing amiss. A quick
inspection outside with a three D-cell flashlight showed nothing amiss.
The dome rotator, which was not running at the time, was fine, the taut
steel cables that control the aperture closing were fine, the two entry
doors were fine. There are no springs in the dome aperture mechanism.

The aluminum dome amplifies noises when one is inside. The dome rotator
is quite loud and even the SBIG STL fan motors are fairly loud from the
inside, not terribly noticeable from outside. I expect that a person
outside the dome would have heard this sound much differently. I
reiterate that it was very loud from inside the dome.

Inclement weather precluded a close exterior daylight examination for
three days. Today I rotated the dome as my wife and I examined the dome
from the ground in bright sunlight. We saw what appeared to be a
shallow dent just below the highest point on the right--hand (as seen
face-on from outside) sliding aperture cover. I got on a stepladder to
confirm that what we were seeing was the shadow of a depression and not
dirt on the dome. I did not measure the dent; I estimate it to be about
8 cm wide and .5 cm deep. The paint did not appear to be damaged, but
that will be a matter for a closer examination.

I cannot be certain that the dent is brand new. I know that it was not
there in October of 2011 when I inspected and lubricated the dome
washed the exterior by hand as I do each spring and fall. I believe
that I know virtually every nick and bit of peeling paint on the dome
(and there aren't many). Something blunt and somewhat weighty has
struck the dome from above since October, 2011.

It seems unlikely that any person threw a stone and struck the
observatory. The incident occurred at 2300 local. The dome is situated
some 260 feet from a rural road on a two-acre property on a nine-home
cul-de-sac surrounded by woods. The only child in the 'hood is a
three-year-old girl--not a person of interest. There is virtually never
anyone in the neighborhood, except me, outside their home at 2300 hrs.
A bird striking the observatory would have made a thud rather than a
very loud metallic clang. Judging from the smoothness of the dent and
the lack of obvious paint damage, I would guess that the dome was
struck by a blunt object. I wouldn't want to try to guess the mass of
the projectile, but the dome is very stiff, a sort of monocoque
construction in which all of the seams are welded. I do not know what
the velocity of a small projectile would have to be to dent the dome.
With the denting of the dome absorbing energy, it doesn't seem that the
projectile would have fallen to the ground far from the dome after
bouncing off the dome.

Light snow and now wet ground have precluded a thorough search of the
area which might reveal the object that struck the dome. I plan to
borrow or rent a metal detector asap.

What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

Davoud wrote in :

My aluminum-domed observatory
http://www.primordial-light.com/observatory.html is located at 39°
04' 40.61" N, 76° 39' 33.46" W. I was in the observatory at
approximately 2300 EST on the night of 6 January, 2012, when I heard a
very loud and startling metallic clang that could only have resulted
from something solid striking the aluminum dome. The outside
temperature was about 30°F and winds were calm.

I have never seen a "UFO." You who know me know that when I rant and
rave it's not about skulls on the Moon or blood on Mars. I don't
/really/ believe that there's a statue of Elvis on Mars, though I think
there ought to be. I have never seen a meteor strike the ground or, to
the best of my knowledge, been near a meteor strike. Like all amateur
astronomers, I have seen my share of meteors and bolides burning up in
the atmosphere--though I do not see them when I am inside my
observatory watching a computer display.

When I heard the loud noise I thought, only for the briefest and
scariest instant, that somehow one of two Takahashi telescopes had
fallen off my A-P 1200 GTO mount--but I was watching a graph of
guide-star tracking on the PHD guiding-software display on a MacBook
Pro display at the time. There was no disruption in tracking, not even
a little spike, which immediately ruled out any accident associated
with the pier/mount/telescopes/camera chain. And the sound was that of
something striking an expanse of sheet metal. Imagine hitting a steel
trash can with a hammer.

I decided to wait a few seconds for the camera exposure to finish, then
I turned on a white incandescent workshop ("trouble') lamp. A thorough
inspection of the observatory interior showed nothing amiss. A quick
inspection outside with a three D-cell flashlight showed nothing amiss.
The dome rotator, which was not running at the time, was fine, the taut
steel cables that control the aperture closing were fine, the two entry
doors were fine. There are no springs in the dome aperture mechanism.

The aluminum dome amplifies noises when one is inside. The dome rotator
is quite loud and even the SBIG STL fan motors are fairly loud from the
inside, not terribly noticeable from outside. I expect that a person
outside the dome would have heard this sound much differently. I
reiterate that it was very loud from inside the dome.

Inclement weather precluded a close exterior daylight examination for
three days. Today I rotated the dome as my wife and I examined the dome
from the ground in bright sunlight. We saw what appeared to be a
shallow dent just below the highest point on the right--hand (as seen
face-on from outside) sliding aperture cover. I got on a stepladder to
confirm that what we were seeing was the shadow of a depression and not
dirt on the dome. I did not measure the dent; I estimate it to be about
8 cm wide and .5 cm deep. The paint did not appear to be damaged, but
that will be a matter for a closer examination.

I cannot be certain that the dent is brand new. I know that it was not
there in October of 2011 when I inspected and lubricated the dome
washed the exterior by hand as I do each spring and fall. I believe
that I know virtually every nick and bit of peeling paint on the dome
(and there aren't many). Something blunt and somewhat weighty has
struck the dome from above since October, 2011.

It seems unlikely that any person threw a stone and struck the
observatory. The incident occurred at 2300 local. The dome is situated
some 260 feet from a rural road on a two-acre property on a nine-home
cul-de-sac surrounded by woods. The only child in the 'hood is a
three-year-old girl--not a person of interest. There is virtually never
anyone in the neighborhood, except me, outside their home at 2300 hrs.
A bird striking the observatory would have made a thud rather than a
very loud metallic clang. Judging from the smoothness of the dent and
the lack of obvious paint damage, I would guess that the dome was
struck by a blunt object. I wouldn't want to try to guess the mass of
the projectile, but the dome is very stiff, a sort of monocoque
construction in which all of the seams are welded. I do not know what
the velocity of a small projectile would have to be to dent the dome.
With the denting of the dome absorbing energy, it doesn't seem that the
projectile would have fallen to the ground far from the dome after
bouncing off the dome.

Light snow and now wet ground have precluded a thorough search of the
area which might reveal the object that struck the dome. I plan to
borrow or rent a metal detector asap.

What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?


Pieces of ice happen to drop off airplanes.
If there are some routes across your location,
that is a fair candidate.

On Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:25:35 -0500, Davoud wrote:

What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?

My first guess would be ice- it sounds as if you had bad weather
coming in, and ice can sometimes be carried pretty long distances in
otherwise clear air. Of course, there's that blue (or worse, brown)
ice that occasionally falls from airplanes...

Certainly a meteorite strike is possible, although extremely unlikely.
If it was a meteorite, it almost certainly was not a Quadrantid, since
the parent body is probably cometary in nature (although no longer
active), and therefore quite fragile. When combined with the fairly
high entry speed of 41 km/s, any material will burn up completely
while still very high.

If you find a meteorite, it will be very valuable, since it would
receive the "hammer" classification- one which struck a structure,
person, or vehicle. It might be especially valuable since it actually
struck an observatory, with a person inside to witness the noise it
made.

Davoud:
My aluminum-domed observatory
http://www.primordial-light.com/observatory.html is located at 39°
04' 40.61" N, 76° 39' 33.46" W. I was in the observatory at
approximately 2300 EST on the night of 6 January, 2012, when I heard a
very loud and startling metallic clang that could only have resulted
from something solid striking the aluminum dome. The outside
temperature was about 30°F and winds were calm.

I have never seen a "UFO." You who know me know that when I rant and
rave it's not about skulls on the Moon or blood on Mars. I don't
/really/ believe that there's a statue of Elvis on Mars, though I think
there ought to be. I have never seen a meteor strike the ground or, to
the best of my knowledge, been near a meteor strike. Like all amateur
astronomers, I have seen my share of meteors and bolides burning up in
the atmosphere--though I do not see them when I am inside my
observatory watching a computer display.

When I heard the loud noise I thought, only for the briefest and
scariest instant, that somehow one of two Takahashi telescopes had
fallen off my A-P 1200 GTO mount--but I was watching a graph of
guide-star tracking on the PHD guiding-software display on a MacBook
Pro display at the time. There was no disruption in tracking, not even
a little spike, which immediately ruled out any accident associated
with the pier/mount/telescopes/camera chain. And the sound was that of
something striking an expanse of sheet metal. Imagine hitting a steel
trash can with a hammer.

I decided to wait a few seconds for the camera exposure to finish, then
I turned on a white incandescent workshop ("trouble') lamp. A thorough
inspection of the observatory interior showed nothing amiss. A quick
inspection outside with a three D-cell flashlight showed nothing amiss.
The dome rotator, which was not running at the time, was fine, the taut
steel cables that control the aperture closing were fine, the two entry
doors were fine. There are no springs in the dome aperture mechanism.

The aluminum dome amplifies noises when one is inside. The dome rotator
is quite loud and even the SBIG STL fan motors are fairly loud from the
inside, not terribly noticeable from outside. I expect that a person
outside the dome would have heard this sound much differently. I
reiterate that it was very loud from inside the dome.

Inclement weather precluded a close exterior daylight examination for
three days. Today I rotated the dome as my wife and I examined the dome
from the ground in bright sunlight. We saw what appeared to be a
shallow dent just below the highest point on the right--hand (as seen
face-on from outside) sliding aperture cover. I got on a stepladder to
confirm that what we were seeing was the shadow of a depression and not
dirt on the dome. I did not measure the dent; I estimate it to be about
8 cm wide and .5 cm deep. The paint did not appear to be damaged, but
that will be a matter for a closer examination.

I cannot be certain that the dent is brand new. I know that it was not
there in October of 2011 when I inspected and lubricated the dome
washed the exterior by hand as I do each spring and fall. I believe
that I know virtually every nick and bit of peeling paint on the dome
(and there aren't many). Something blunt and somewhat weighty has
struck the dome from above since October, 2011.

It seems unlikely that any person threw a stone and struck the
observatory. The incident occurred at 2300 local. The dome is situated
some 260 feet from a rural road on a two-acre property on a nine-home
cul-de-sac surrounded by woods. The only child in the 'hood is a
three-year-old girl--not a person of interest. There is virtually never
anyone in the neighborhood, except me, outside their home at 2300 hrs.
A bird striking the observatory would have made a thud rather than a
very loud metallic clang. Judging from the smoothness of the dent and
the lack of obvious paint damage, I would guess that the dome was
struck by a blunt object. I wouldn't want to try to guess the mass of
the projectile, but the dome is very stiff, a sort of monocoque
construction in which all of the seams are welded. I do not know what
the velocity of a small projectile would have to be to dent the dome.
With the denting of the dome absorbing energy, it doesn't seem that the
projectile would have fallen to the ground far from the dome after
bouncing off the dome.

Light snow and now wet ground have precluded a thorough search of the
area which might reveal the object that struck the dome. I plan to
borrow or rent a metal detector asap.

What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?

Sjouke Burry:
Pieces of ice happen to drop off airplanes.
If there are some routes across your location,
that is a fair candidate.

Agreed. I hadn't considered ice. Only thing is, I'm several miles from
any flight path leading into or out of BWI, which is not very far away.
I could imagine a piece of ice falling off an incoming plane due to
vibration when flaps are extended, landing gears is lowered, and
what-not, but with calm wind, I don't know how it would have found its
way to my home, especially when it would likely have come off the plane
at a fairly low altitude, 10 miles or more laterally distant. Unseen
high-flying aircraft? Possibly. We see contrails from high-altitude
military aircraft in daylight and early evening some days, possibly
from fighter CAP, if they're still doing that on the eastern seaboard.
I don't know about nighttime fighter CAP, so I can't rule it out,
either.

Even though the weather was clear, it is still possible that a little
seed of ice happened to form at a certain altitude, grow as it fell,
and struck my dome.

Such an ice fall would be a rare, even freak occurrence here, but
certainly not impossible. In any event, until someone comes up with
something more plausible, I like your ice fall--some kind of ice
fall--as a leading candidate.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

Davoud:
What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?

Chris L Peterson:
My first guess would be ice- it sounds as if you had bad weather
coming in, and ice can sometimes be carried pretty long distances in
otherwise clear air. Of course, there's that blue (or worse, brown)
ice that occasionally falls from airplanes...

Certainly a meteorite strike is possible, although extremely unlikely.
If it was a meteorite, it almost certainly was not a Quadrantid, since
the parent body is probably cometary in nature (although no longer
active), and therefore quite fragile. When combined with the fairly
high entry speed of 41 km/s, any material will burn up completely
while still very high.

If you find a meteorite, it will be very valuable, since it would
receive the "hammer" classification- one which struck a structure,
person, or vehicle. It might be especially valuable since it actually
struck an observatory, with a person inside to witness the noise it
made.

However long the odds it was a meteor, they got worse by some orders of
magnitude when you said such a meteor could be valuable. The most
valuable thing ever to land on my property was a pile of roof shingles
when a truck delivered to the wrong address while I was away.

I think that ice is much more likely than a meteor. Ah well, maybe I'll
have worse luck next time.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

On Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:34:03 -0500, Davoud wrote:

Agreed. I hadn't considered ice. Only thing is, I'm several miles from
any flight path leading into or out of BWI, which is not very far away.
I could imagine a piece of ice falling off an incoming plane due to
vibration when flaps are extended, landing gears is lowered, and
what-not, but with calm wind, I don't know how it would have found its
way to my home, especially when it would likely have come off the plane
at a fairly low altitude, 10 miles or more laterally distant.

Of course, you must also consider that it was a piece of ordinary ice
that fell off an alien flying saucer when it extended its scloxulaforb
during a routine abduction in your neighborhood.

On Jan 11, 7:14*am, Chris L Peterson wrote:

Of course, you must also consider that it was a piece of ordinary ice
that fell off an alien flying saucer when it extended its scloxulaforb
during a routine abduction in your neighborhood.

Had the location been Denmark I would have suggested a search for a
rocket of the firework variety. Kids are still letting off left-over
fireworks a week after the New Year celebrations.

As it was in N.America I should call the local MIB office ASAP.
Failure to report a collision with an alien craft, and all that...
These were probably micro-beings in a battle-cruiser and mistook your
dome for their vast, mother ship. Far preferable to a shard of brown
ice! Or differential thermal expansion. There are no years of free
beers, recounting the tale, in the latter. ;-)

On Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:49:40 -0800 (PST), "Chris.B"
wrote:

As it was in N.America I should call the local MIB office ASAP.
Failure to report a collision with an alien craft, and all that...
These were probably micro-beings in a battle-cruiser and mistook your
dome for their vast, mother ship. Far preferable to a shard of brown
ice! Or differential thermal expansion. There are no years of free
beers, recounting the tale, in the latter. ;-)

If Davoud's luck is as poor as he indicates, it's likely that somebody
else would be blessed with an impact from an unobtainium bolt off the
flying saucer; Davoud would just get a piece of... orange?... ice that
fell out of the evacuation shoot.

On Jan 11, 7:56*am, Chris L Peterson wrote:

If Davoud's luck is as poor as he indicates, it's likely that somebody
else would be blessed with an impact from an unobtainium bolt off the
flying saucer; Davoud would just get a piece of... orange?... ice that
fell out of the evacuation shoot.

Don't knock it. A piece of alien orange ice can be preserved and
exhibited for a lifetime of small entry charges to the Davoud Museum
of Alien Artefacts. Just think if the object had struck the poor devil
after passing through the open slit? He might have ended up in his own
museum. As an exhibit! ;-)

What a terrifying choice! Knock out the dent to match neighbours'
expectations of visual decorum. Or paint a big red arrow on the dome
and invite the UFO-NUTS round for the price of more beer. Will he have
sufficient room for parking in the high season? I heard there is
already a viral YT video using Google Earth to pinpoint the First
Alien Encounter of the Filth Kind! There may be some serious
copyright issues here.

BTW: Nobody with a dome full of toys on two acres of pristine lawn is
remotely unlucky. We can't even hope for frost heave to put a slight
lean on his pier. He'd only adjust it back out! ;-)

On Jan 10, 7:25 pm, Davoud wrote:

Light snow and now wet ground have precluded a thorough search of the
area which might reveal the object that struck the dome. I plan to
borrow or rent a metal detector asap.

What struck my dome? Ideas not involving magic, the wrath of god(s),
hallucinations, aliens, UFOs, flying animals, or the the like?

Interesting. What happens to the bullets partiers are firing of into
the
air?
Hope we hear of the cause.
Ken