28 September 2009

Argentina Meteor/Meteorite News- Large Meteor Witnessed; Meteorites? 27SEP09 28SEP09











Argentina meteor 27SEP09 photo by Pablo Cagnaso

Creen que cayó un meteorito en General Alvear
Creen que cayó un meteorito en General Alvear

Los Andes (Argentina) - Mendoza,Argentina
Investigan si se trata de un meteorito o sólo "basura espacial". Una gran cantidad de pobladores de la zona de General Alvear aseguró que ayer a la tarde ...







Siguen las repercusiones por la caída de un meteorito

MDZol - Mendoza,Argentina
Una singular marca en el cielo, producto supuestamente de la caída de un meteorito, pudo verse durante el atardecer de ayer -apenas pasadas las 19 - dentro ...

Un meteorito cayó en General Alvear

MDZol - Mendoza,Argentina
Decenas de testigos vieron un meteorito. MDZ consultó varias fuentes y todas coinciden en sus versiones generales. Se vio una gigantesca bola de fuego, ... (more; with photo of smoke trail, map)

Cayó un meteorito en General Alvear y provocó preocupación

JornadaOnline - Mendoza,Argentina
La caída de un meteorito provocó preocupación y expectativa en la tarde de ayer en General Alvear. El hecho se produjo pasadas las 19, cuando un número ...

Cayó un meteorito en Mendoza

Diario Panorama - Santiago del Estero,Argentina
Según las primeras evaluaciones de Defensa Civil y la palabra de decenas de testigos, se trataría de un meteorito. Roberto Trigues, jefe de Defensa Civil de ...

-----------------------------------------------
Yesterday, 19:22hs local time a fireball with explosion and Earth shake
was seen and felt betweeen Mendoza and La Pampa provinces in Argentina.

Please remember the Argentine law about meteorite falls. NO EXPORT IS
ALLOWED. If anywone want to came and search for it is OK but you can't
take the meteorites out of Argentina.

Some news (in spanish sorry):
http://www.mdzol.com/mdz/nota/162536-Un-meteorito-cay%C3%B3-en-General-

Alvear/

http://radio1alvear.com/


http://www.diariotextual.com/index.php
?
option=com_content&view=article&id=2779

http://www.mediamza.com/nota/index/id/8850


http://www.laarena.com.ar/la_ciudad-%C2%BFmeteorito_o_basura_espacial_-

39284-115.html

Eduardo

P.S. 25 years without falls in Argentina and just after the new law 3
falls in less than two years. That's not fair :-(
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

27 September 2009

Canada Meteor/Meteorite News- Brilliant Ontario Meteor 26SEP09 27SEP09

CTV.ca
Space visitor descends over southern Ontario

CTV.ca
Instead, it was a fiery meteor that blasted into the atmosphere last night, streaking across the sky and wowing locals in southern portions of the province. ...


'An overwhelming experience,' local star-gazer says of seeing ...

Waterloo Record
Dust particles in the trails are the source for meteors. The size of a meteor, also called a shooting star, is usually between a grain of sand and a ...
See all stories on this topic


Meteor spotted over GTA

Toronto Star
Dempsey, an amateur astronomer, immediately identified the light as a meteor, or fireball. The meteor was spotted just after 9 pm by skywatchers across the ...
See all stories on this topic

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"...“I saw something shoot across the sky. It was the size of a baseball,” said Armenti. It exploded in about six or seven pieces, but I didn’t hear any noise. It blew apart and then it just disappeared.”..."

http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1772733


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another Video: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/27/11154226.html


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eye witness reports and video: http://www.thenightskyguy.com/?p=1023


------------------------------------------------------------------
"..."It was far, far brighter than a full moon, and then disintegrated
into red chunks and pieces within seconds," he said...."

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/701577

--------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/26/11137496.html



Meteor/Meteorite News- 27SEP09

Antarctic meteorites offer insights into history of early solar system

Space Ref (press release)
By Peter Rejcek, Antarctic Sun Editor Field researchers in Antarctica have returned with more than 17500 meteorites over the 30-plus years that the ...

Celestial landscape changes as winter hexagon rises

MaineToday.com
There will also be a nice meteor shower from the 20th through the 22nd of this month, called the Orionids. Caused by dust and debris spread out all along ...

Findings on moon and Mars are challenging long-held beliefs of ...

Kansas City Star
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted ice in five recently formed meteorite craters situated midway between the northern pole and the equator, ...

Esta semana la NASA reveló que en Marte y la Luna existe agua 99% pura

Diario Hoy (Ecuador) - Quito,Ecuador
En el caso de Marte, la NASA anunció que, según el estudio, en cráteres de meteoritos, entre el polo norte y el ecuador marciano, podría haber, ...

Video shows Earthâs place in galaxy
The Advocate Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:22 PM PDT
Christian Life Academy students on Friday sat in a portable planetarium where they watched images depicting a meteorite crashing into the ground and destroying dinosaurs 65 million years ago.


Sudbury: a geological wonder

Sudbury Star
About 1.85 billion years ago, a meteorite hit the ground where Sudbury lies and in just a few seconds produced a crater 200 kilometres in diametre. ...

美发现陨石撞击火星露出表层水冰(图)

新浪网 - Beijing,China
HiRISE相机在2008年11月1日拍到的这张照片显示的是一个新的直径8米的陨坑,它形成的时间在2008年1月26日前后,这次撞击让火星表面下的水冰露了出来。 ...

26 September 2009

Meteor/Meteorite News- Moon Water Map Image 26SEP09


Image of the Day Gallery

Water Detected at High Latitudes on the Moon

NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, an instrument on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 mission, took this image of Earth's moon. It is a three-color composite of reflected near-infrared radiation from the sun, and illustrates the extent to which different materials are mapped across the side of the moon that faces Earth.

Small amounts of water were detected on the surface of the moon at various locations. This image illustrates their distribution at high latitudes toward the poles.

Blue shows the signature of water, green shows the brightness of the surface as measured by reflected infrared radiation from the sun and red shows an iron-bearing mineral called pyroxene.

- Photo and Text by NASA

Meteor/Meteorite News- 26SEP09

Water, Water Everywhere

ScienceBlogs (blog)
MRO has seen small fresh meteorite craters Mars - with depths of 1-3 meters. MRO's cameras are good enough to resolve these craters, and the coverage is ...

Water ahoy!

Deccan Herald
The water on the moon is supposed to have been the result of comet and meteorite activity or the impact of solar winds and it is fairly spread over the ...

On the road: 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show

Astronomy Magazine
Mike's talk is “Catch a Falling Star,” which can only be about meteorite collecting. Mike is an acknowledged expert in meteoritics who wrote a book about ...

Abbots Langley students touch the Moon

Watford Observer
Meteorites of different shapes and sizes formed part of the display and students were able to handle and study them, seeing obvious differences in the ...

Sweden Meteorite News- Muonionalusta Tonne Meteorite 26SEP09


http://tn.nova.cz/zpravy/regionalni/narodni-muzeum-stehovalo-obri-unikat-tunovy-meteorit.html

Tonne Muonionalusta meteorite (Video link and English translation below)

Národní muzeum stěhovalo obří meteorit
Národní muzeum stěhovalo obří unikát. TUNOVÝ METEORIT

tn.cz - Czech Republic
Meteorit z niklového železa je jedním z největších vesmírných kamenů nalezených na Zemi. Jeho objevitel, dobrodruh Jiří Šimek ho našel tři sta kilometrů za ... (more)



ImTranslator 3.2P machine translation
Czech-English

National Museum moved giant unique. The tonne meteorite

Heavy giant found three years ago in Sweden by adventurer Jiri Simek. He wants his museum to donate. Vsebina Forwarders, special chodolezu and especially a lot of strong hands of a few men were needed for the removal of nearly ton meteorite Muonionalusta. On Friday, went to the National Museum, where he will admire until July next year. Of nickel iron meteorite is one of the largest space rocks found on Earth. Its discoverer, adventurer Jiri Simek he found three hundred kilometers above the Arctic Circle.

Rested two meters deep, I have found him three years ago in Sweden at a depth of two meters, which is unique because meteorites are usually found on the surface, "described the meteorite finder Jiri Simek. The stone is also the oldest piece of what ever managed to find. The ground fell from one million years. And it hit an iceberg, neroztříštil to small pieces.

It is probably a fragmented core of the asteroid was a meteorite, according to experts metal core of the asteroid, which is in conflict with the earth shattered into many pieces. Unique is now located in the foyer of the museum and become part of the new exhibition The story of planet Earth. Figure there will be a unique addition to 30 stone from Mars or the Moon. Discovered by him, while still only loaned to the National Museum, but now negotiations are underway for its donation.

25 September 2009

Meteor/Meteorite News- Moon and Mars with Water 26SEP09

Water galore on Moon and Mars

Scientific American
The new martian ice was detected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe which spotted the ice in craters produced by recent meteorite impacts on the ...

India Meteor/Meteorite News- India Finds Lunar Water 25SEP09

India hails Moon mission 'find'

Chandrayaan 1 (ISRO)
India's Chandrayaan-1 probe carried US equipment to the Moon

India's inaugural Moon mission has been hailed as a "grand success" by the head of India's space agency, after helping find evidence of water on the Moon.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief G Madhavan Nair said a spacecraft probe found more water on the Moon "than was expected."...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8274159.stm

Meteor/Meteorite News- 25SEP09

NASA: Orbiter spots ice in Martian meteor craters

Computerworld
By Sharon Gaudin Computerworld - A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars has spotted exposed ice in five different spots on the Red Planet. ...

Метеориты обнажили мощный слой льда в средних широтах Марса

Новостной проект INFOX.ru - Москва,Russia
Помогли открытию удары метеоритов по марсианской поверхности. Летом прошлого года с Марса пришло долгожданное известие – космический аппарат Phoenix ...


Pravda
Tunguska Meteorite Created Devil's Cemetery in Russia's Siberia

Pravda
They say that ruinous energy of the place has something to do with the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. Within one decade, from 1980 till 1990, ...


Wired News
Sept. 25, 2002: Mysterious Meteorite Dazzles Siberia

Wired News
The meteorite had broken up before hitting the ground and left a score of craters, up to 65 feet in diameter. Nearby tree stumps were shattered or burned. ...


Did comet crashes help spark Earth life?
MSNBC Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:48 PM PDT
Based on evidence from meteorite studies, researchers are simulating comet impacts to see if they might help proliferate the left-handedness in molecules that life on Earth depends upon.

Alex Nye: Not Quite Done with Route 66

East Aurora Advertiser
Continuing to Oatman from Holbrook, you will pass signs for the Meteor Crater. It is an honest-to-goodness crater created by a meteor, hence the name. ...
See all stories on this topic


Star Dust: Saturn Meets Venus at Dawn

The Free Press (press release)
The meteor shower called the Orionids is usually not spectacular, but this year appears promising for it. These meteors are caused by small pieces (dust, ...

Meteor/Meteorite News- Water Ice on Mars 25SEP09

Los Angeles Times
Ice on Mars more extensive than thought

Los Angeles Times
An orbiter spots ice in five meteorite craters. The planet's underground ice sheet could be twice the size of Greenland's, scientists say. ...




火星陨石坑洞内有冰比想像更接近赤道

大纪元 - USA
负责操作高解析相机的HiRISE研究人员说,在这个新陨石坑洞内发现的冰纯度极高。 柏恩说:“以前我们都觉得是50%的沙尘与50%的冰,不过这次大概是1%的沙尘,99%的冰。 ...


PhysOrg.com
Scientists see water ice in fresh meteorite craters on Mars

PhysOrg.com
The hirise camera on nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image of a new, 8-meter (26-foot)-diameter meteorite impact crater in the topographically ...


Impacto de meteoritos revela água congelada em Marte
Impacto de meteoritos revela água congelada em Marte

Site Inovação Tecnológica - Brazil
Meteoritos que atingiram recentemente a superfície de Marte revelaram depósitos de água congelada logo abaixo da superfície do planeta. ...



Agua en la Luna, hielo en Marte

El Norte de Castilla - Valladolid,Castilla y León,Spain
Pudieran ser provenientes de otros cuerpos externos como meteoritos o cometas impactados contra la superficie lunar u originadas en el interior del satélite ...


印度发现月球有水证据英媒称其为追赶中国加分

搜狐 - Beijing,China
此前曾有研究表明月球两极的陨石坑可能存在冰,但一直没能得到证实。 ... 其中之一便是NASA的“月球侦察者轨道器”,它已经记录了月球极地陨石坑中的最低温度是零下238 ...


Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Spacecraft Sees Ice on Mars Exposed by Meteor Impacts

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This map shows five locations where fresh impact cratering has excavated water ice from just beneath the surface of Mars. PASADENA, Calif. ...



Scientists see water ice in fresh meteorite craters on Mars

Eureka! Science News
"The other surprising discovery is that ice exposed at the bottom of these meteorite impact craters is so pure," Byrne said. "The thinking before was that ...


Scientific American
Meteorite impacts turn up nearly pure water ice in Mars's mid ...

Scientific American
By John Matson in 60-Second Science Blog Now a team of researchers has let meteorite impacts do the digging for them—a paper in this week's Science presents ...



Water Ice In Fresh Meteorite Craters On Mars

Science Daily (press release)
The spacecraft's observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet. Scientists controlling instruments on the ...

Water on Mars more extensive than thought
Los Angeles Times Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:22 PM PDT
An orbiter spots ice in five meteorite craters. The planet's underground ice sheet could be twice the size of Greenland's, scientists say. There is much more water on Mars than anyone had thought -- possibly twice as much as in Greenland's ice sheet, scientists said Thursday.



NASA Orbiter Finds Ice In New Craters On Mars
redOrbit Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:21 PM PDT
Image Caption: The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image of a new, 8-meter (26-foot)-diameter meteorite impact crater in the topographically flat, dark plains within Vastitas Borealis, Mars, on November 1, 2008. The crater was made sometime after Jan. 26, 2008. Bright water ice was excavated by, and now surrounds, the crater. This entire image is 50 meters (164 feet ...

Scientists see water ice in fresh meteorite craters on Mars
SpaceRef Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:32 PM PDT
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The spacecraft's observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet.

Ice on Mars revealed in fresh craters
CBC.ca Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:20 PM PDT
Fresh meteorite impacts on Mars have revealed ice under the surface far closer to the Martian equator than astronomers expected to find it.

Cosmic Log: Water found (and lost) on Mars
MSNBC Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:18 AM PDT
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Researchers spot fresh water ice that was thrown up by meteorite impacts on Mars â and then happily watch it disappear.

Meteorite impacts turn up nearly pure water ice in Mars's mid-latitudes
Scientific American Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:18 AM PDT
Planetary scientists looking for water ice on Mars have employed a number of tactics to great success in their search. The Phoenix lander dug it up ; orbiting radar measurements have seen it under insulating blankets of debris. ( Frozen water sublimates to vapor in Mars's climate and so is not stable when exposed at the surface.) [More]



---------------------------------------------------------
NASA SPACECRAFT SEES ICE ON MARS EXPOSED BY METEOR IMPACTS

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed
frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The
spacecraft's observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites
excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet.

Scientists controlling instruments on the orbiter found bright ice
exposed at five Martian sites with new craters that range in depth
from approximately 1.5 feet to 8 feet. The craters did not exist in
earlier images of the same sites. Some of the craters show a thin
layer of bright ice atop darker underlying material. The bright
patches darkened in the weeks following initial observations, as the
freshly exposed ice vaporized into the thin Martian atmosphere. One
of the new craters had a bright patch of material large enough for
one of the orbiter's instruments to confirm it is water ice.

The finds indicate water ice occurs beneath Mars' surface halfway
between the north pole and the equator, a lower latitude than
expected in the Martian climate.

"This ice is a relic of a more humid climate from perhaps just several
thousand years ago," said Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona.

Byrne is a member of the team operating the orbiter's High Resolution
Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, which captured the
unprecedented images. Byrne and 17 co-authors report the findings in
the Sept. 25 edition of the journal Science.

"We now know we can use new impact sites as probes to look for ice in
the shallow subsurface," said Megan Kennedy of Malin Space Science
Systems in San Diego, a co-author of the paper and member of the team
operating the orbiter's Context Camera.

During a typical week, the Context Camera returns more than 200 images
of Mars that cover a total area greater than California. The camera
team examines each image, sometimes finding dark spots that fresh,
small craters make in terrain covered with dust. Checking earlier
photos of the same areas can confirm a feature is new. The team has
found more than 100 fresh impact sites, mostly closer to the equator
than the ones that revealed ice.

An image from the camera on Aug. 10, 2008, showed apparent cratering
that occurred after an image of the same ground was taken 67 days
earlier. The opportunity to study such a fresh impact site prompted a
look by the orbiter's higher resolution camera on Sept. 12, 2009,
confirming a cluster of small craters.

"Something unusual jumped out," Byrne said. "We observed bright
material at the bottoms of the craters with a very distinct color. It
looked a lot like ice."

The bright material at that site did not cover enough area for a
spectrometer instrument on the orbiter to determine its composition.
However, a Sept. 18, 2008, image of a different mid-latitude site
showed a crater that had not existed eight months earlier. This
crater had a larger area of bright material.

"We were excited about it, so we did a quick-turnaround observation,"
said co-author Kim Seelos of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Laurel, Md., "Everyone thought it was water ice, but it
was important to get the spectrum for confirmation."

The Mars orbiter is designed to facilitate coordination and quick
response by the science teams, making it possible to detect and
understand rapidly changing features. The ice exposed by fresh
impacts suggests that NASA's Viking 2 lander, digging into
mid-latitude Mars in 1976, might have struck ice if it had dug four
inches deeper.

The Viking 2 mission, which consisted of an orbiter and a lander,
launched in September 1975 and became one of the first two space
probes to land successfully on the Martian surface. The Viking 1 and
2 landers characterized the structure and composition of the
atmosphere and surface. They also conducted on-the-spot biological
tests for life on another planet.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena manages the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the
spacecraft. The Context Camera was built and is operated by Malin.
The University of Arizona operates the HiRISE camera, which Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo., built. The Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory led the effort to build
the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer and operates it in
coordination with an international team of researchers.

To view images of the craters and learn more about the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mro

Sept. 24, 2009

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-224

--------------------------------------------------------

FROM: Lori Stiles (520-626-4402; lstiles@u.arizona.edu)

SCIENTISTS SEE WATER ICE IN FRESH METEORITE CRATERS ON MARS

Scientists are seeing sub-surface water ice that may be 99 percent pure
halfway between the north pole and the equator on Mars, thanks to
quick-turnaround observations from orbit of fresh meteorite impact
craters on the planet.

"We knew there was ice below the surface at high latitudes of Mars, but
we find that it extends far closer to the equator than you would think,
based on Mars' climate today," said Shane Byrne of the University of
Arizona, a member of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or
HiRISE, which runs the high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter.

"The other surprising discovery is that ice exposed at the bottom of
these meteorite impact craters is so pure," Byrne said. "The thinking
before was that ice accumulates below the surface between soil grains,
so there would be a 50-50 mix of dirt and ice. We were able to figure
out, given how long it took that ice to fade from view, that the mixture
is about one percent dirt and 99 percent ice."

Scientists used several instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,
or MRO, in quick succession in detecting and confirming highly pure,
bright ice exposed in new craters, ranging from 1.5 feet to 8 feet deep,
at five different Martian sites.

In August 2008, the orbiter's Context camera team examined their images
for any dark spots or other changes that weren't visible in earlier
images of the same area. Meteorites usually leave dark marks when they
crash into dust-covered Mars terrain.

The HiRISE team, which bases its operations at the UA Lunar and
Planetary Laboratory, followed up in September 2008 by taking
high-resolution images of the dark spots.

"We saw something very unusual when we followed up on the first of these
impact craters," Byrne said, "and that was this bright blue material
poking up from the bottom of the crater. It looked a lot like water ice.
And sure enough, when we started monitoring this material, it faded away
like you'd expect water ice to fade, because water ice is unstable on
Mars' surface and turns directly into water vapor in the atmosphere."

A few days later that September, the orbiter's "CRISM" team used their
Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and got the
spectral signature of water ice exposed in one of the impact craters,
further clinching the discovery.

"All of this had to happen very quickly because 200 days after we first
saw the ice, it was gone, it was the color of dirt," Byrne said. "If we
had taken HiRISE images just a few months later, we wouldn't have
noticed anything unusual. This discovery would have just passed us by."

Byrne and 17 co-authors are reporting the findings in the Sept. 25
edition of the journal Science.

How far water ice extends toward the equator depends largely on how much
water has been available in the Martian atmosphere in the recent past,
Byrne said: "The ice is a relic of a more humid climate not very long
ago, perhaps just several thousand years ago."

The Phoenix Mars Lander mission last year also found clean ice at its
landing site on the northern plains of Mars, Byrne noted.

But to find highly pure ice far closer to the equator because of random
meteor impacts was unexpected, he said.

There are several theories about how a layer of such pure ice could have
formed beneath Mars surface. Byrne said he thinks that one of the most
promising ideas is that this ice on Mars formed in the same way that
pure ice lenses form beneath the surface of the Earth.

"That's where you have very thin films of liquid water around ice grains
and soil grains and they migrate around to form clear ice lenses on top
of the ice table, even at temperatures well below zero. This process is
called 'frost heave' on Earth, and it's considered a nuisance in most
places because it cracks up roads and tilts walls and destroys
foundations of houses.

"But on Mars it would be of great interest if we could discover a
process that involved liquid water in today's climate, and not just in
some of the warmest areas of the planet but in some of the coldest areas
of the planet in the high latitude regions," Byrne said.

In the past decade, researchers from UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
have played major roles in piecing together the picture of where water
is to be found on Mars:

* Professor Alfred McEwen, a co-author on the Sept. 25 Science paper, is
principal investigator for HiRISE, which began imaging Mars in November
2006. At this time, the HiRISE Web site features more than 577processed
pictures of Martian water features among thousands of pictures of
features on the surface of the planet.

* Professor William Boynton developed the Gamma Ray Spectrometer
instrument package on Mars Odyssey that detected water ice near the
Martian poles in 2001.

* Phoenix Mars Lander principal investigator Peter Smith headed the
mission that used a long robotic arm to uncover and confirm the shallow
ice table at its landing site, and other instruments to document
snowfall and ground frost at its high polar latitude. The Phoenix Mars
Mission began science operations on the northern plains of Mars after
landing May 25, 2008, and lasted five months, until winter arrived.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The University of Arizona operates the High Resolution Imaging Science
Experiment, which operates the HiRISE camera built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. The Context
Camera is operated by and was provided by Malin Space Science Systems.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory led the effort
to build the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and
operates it in coordination with an international team of researchers.

SCIENCE CONTACTS:

Shane Byrne (520-626-0407; shane@lpl.arizona.edu)
Alfred McEwen (520-621-4573; mcewen@lpl.arizona.edu)

HiRISE WEBSITE & IMAGES:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu

24 September 2009

Meteor/Meteorite News- 24SEP09

62 New Meteor Showers to Enjoy

Universe Today
A seven year survey by astronomers at the University of Western Ontario has identified 117 new meteor showers, 62 of which have never been reported before. ...

Comets May Give Life a Hand

Astrobiology Magazine
There is evidence from meteorite studies that amino acids may have been delivered to Earth from space. "There is interest in how these building blocks came ...

Astronomers 'spot' meteorite on vast Nullabor Plain
The Times of India Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:34 AM PDT
LONDON: Astronomers have discovered a specific piece of meteorite on Nullabor Plain, after tracking it from orbit, a rare finding which they claim is a major breakthrough for planetary science.

Divers recover large rock from Sylvan Lake

Forest Lake Times
Hutton said he was confident that whatever caused the Sylvan Lake incident wasn'ta meteor, nor anything that could have fallen from an airplane. ...

October skywatch: Meteor shower and Jupiter

AZ Central.com
Although the Orionid meteor shower is spread over several nights, it peaks between 2 am and dawn on Oct. 21. You might see 20 or more meteors an hour if the ...

23 September 2009

Namibia Meteor/Meteorite News- Fireball in Namibia 19SEP09 23SEP09

Fireball in Namibia (English Translation below)

Viele Menschen sehen „Lichtblitz“

Allegemeine Zeifung- AZ Online 23.09.2009
Windhoek – Die leuchtende Erscheinung am Himmel ist am vergangenen Samstagvormittag noch von vielen anderen Menschen sowie in verschiedenen Landesteilen Namibias gesehen worden. Nachdem die Windhoekerin Ingrid Bieker auf das Phänomen aufmerksam gemacht hat und einen Meteorit vermutete (AZ berichtete), haben sich seit Wochenbeginn noch weitere Menschen bei der Allgemeinen Zeitung gemeldet und von ihren Beobachtungen berichtet.

So wurde der „Lichtblitz“ unter anderem von Menschen am Oanob-Damm, im Khomas-Hochland, am Swakoppforte-Damm, in Wilhelmstal, auf der Farm Finkenstein östlich von Windhoek, bei Omaruru, nahe Otjiwarongo und natürlich in Windhoek wahrgenommen. Übereinstimmend berichteten alle Anrufer von einem sehr hellen Licht am Morgenhimmel (ca. 9.10 Uhr).

Es könnte sich um einen Meteoriten gehandelt haben, erklärte Sonja Itting-Enke, Betreiberin der Cuno-Hoffmeister-Gedächtnissternwarte, jetzt auf AZ-Nachfrage. Allerdings würden diese eher ein bläuliches Licht erzeugen, weil sie „Kupfer und andere Metalle“ mit sich führten. „Vielleicht war es aber nur Weltraumschrott, denn es fliegt ja heutzutage viel im All herum“, füge sie hinzu. In jedem Fall, das berichteten auch die AZ-Leser, sei das Objekt offenbar beim Eintritt in die Atmosphäre verglüht.

German-English translation by ImTranslator 3.2-P

Many people see "light flash"
AZ Online 23.09.2009
Windhoek – The luminous appearance in the sky has been seen in the last Saturday (19SEP09) morning still by many other people as well as in different land parts of Namibia. After the Windhoek resident, Ingrid Bieker, has drawn the attention to the phenomenon and supposed a meteorite (FILE NUMBER reported), even other people have announced themselves since weekly beginning in the general newspaper and have reported about her observations.

Among the rest, thus the "light flash" was perceived by people in the Oanob dam, in the Khomas highland, in the Swakoppforte dam, in Wilhelm's valley, on the farm finch stone to the east of Windhoek, with Omaruru, close Otjiwarongo and of course in Windhoek. Correspondently all callers reported about a very bright light in the morning sky (approx. 9.10 o'clock).

It could have concerned a meteorite, explained Sonja Itting-Enke, operator of the Cuno Hoffmeister-commemorative observatory, now on AZ inquiry. Indeed, these would generate rather a bluish light because they led „ copper and other metals “ with themselves. „ However, maybe it was only a space scrap metal, because it flies nowadays a lot in all “, she adds. In any case, reported also the AZ readers, the object has apparently died away by the entry into the atmosphere.


http://www.az.com.na/lokales/viele-menschen-sehen-and-lichtblitz-and.93764.php


Source: Dr. Svend Buhl

Meteor/Meteorite News- 23SEP09

Found: 62 meteor showers new to science

New Scientist
Now, researchers in Canada report finding an incredible 62 new meteor showers, displays of 'shooting stars' that recur every year when Earth passes through ...

The Market Oracle
Climate Change, The Environmentalists Have it All Wrong!

The Market Oracle
... events such as meteorite strikes has resulted in an evolutionary jump where existing dominant species have been wiped out to make way for new species. ...


Meteorite Tracked & Spotted On Vast Nullabor Plain

india-server.com
In a major breakthrough in planetary science, the astronomers have tracked and spotted a tiny meteorite on the vast Nullabor Plain. ...

Nullarbor fireball cameras lead scientists to location of rare ...

Gizmag
Not only that, the group also traced the meteorite's roots back to its orbit and the asteroid from where it came. Using cameras and sophisticated ...

Top Stories 'Meteorite' rocks Bruno's world

BirminghamMail.net
STARGAZING student Bruno Bertullo had a wish come true when what he believes to be a meteorite landed in his grandmother's back garden. ... (NOTE: HOAX)

Burton Mail
Security guard spotted 'fireball'

Burton Mail
... when I spoke to them had it down as an unidentified flying object and that's what I put in my report but they said it could also have been a meteorite. ...



Brisbane Times
Scientists track meteor from sky to Aussie desert

Brisbane Times
Inset: the meteorite found in the Nullarbor. West Australian scientists have used photos of 'fireballs' in the night sky to track down a rare meteorite ...


Aparece un "extraño" meteorito en el desierto australiano

La Gaceta de los Negocios - Madrid,Madrid,Spain
El nuevo meteorito, que tiene un tamaño cercano al de una pelota de cricket, es el primero que se ha recogido con las cámaras instaladas en el desierto ...

Rare meteorite found in Australian desert
New Kerala Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:26 AM PDT
Sydney, Sep 21 : Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the solar system it came from, a new finding suggests.

Astronomers 'spot' meteorite on vast Nullabor Plain
The Times of India Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:13 PM PDT
LONDON: Astronomers have discovered a specific piece of meteorite on Nullabor Plain, after tracking it from orbit, a rare finding which they claim is a major breakthrough for planetary science.

Books: "The Fallen Sky"
The New Yorker Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:09 PM PDT
In 1894, fifteen years before his storied expedition to the North Pole, Robert Peary crossed a treacherous expanse of ice in Greenland in search of another prize: a massive meteorite laden with rare metals from outer space. In this hefty, industrious book, Cokinos retraces Pearyâs steps, and those...

Nullarbor Fireball Cameras Find Rare Meteorite
SpaceDaily Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:09 PM PDT
by Staff Writers Canberra, Australia (SPX) Sep 21, 2009 Using cameras which capture fireballs streaking across the night sky and sophisticated mathematics, a world-wide team of scientists have managed to find not only a tiny meteorite on the vast Nullarbor Plain, but also its orbit and the asteroid it came from.

22 September 2009

Meteor/Meteorite News- 22SEP09

Seven meteorites from Tenerife's collection to appear in an ...

Fortnightly Tenerife News
Spanish scientist have incorporated seven meteorites from the Museum of Natural Sciences of Tenerife's collection into its Meteoritical Society's ...

Still Spirit; Nullarbor Meteorite

AccuWeather.com
Meanwhile, the Spirit Martian Rover team continues to struggle to remove the rover from its sand trap, while a rare meteorite has been found in Australia. ...

Descubren un 'extraño' meteorito en el desierto australiano

Orange España - Madrid,España,Spain
Científicos británicos han descubierto un "extraño" meteorito en el desierto australiano y de momento desconocen de qué parte del Sistema Solar procede. ...

Astronomers 'spot' meteorite on vast Nullabor Plain

Times of India
PTI 21 September 2009, 11:24am IST LONDON: Astronomers have discovered a specific piece of meteorite on Nullabor Plain, after tracking it from orbit, ...
See all stories on this topic
Space Daily
Opportunity Departs Block Island

Space Daily
by Staff Writers Opportunity completed the circumnavigation and full-circle imaging of the large meteorite "Block Island" and has resumed the long drive to ...

21 September 2009

Meteor/Meteorite News 21SEP09

Meteor startled city's founder

The Olympian
I called on Colonel (Michael T.) Simmons, who said that it was a meteor; that two Indians in his employ saw it fly and burst. They came to his house very ...

Camera Tracks Meteorite To Home In Space
OfficialWire Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:42 AM PDT
Cameras set up in the western Australia desert have helped trace a fallen meteorite to its original place in the solar system, scientists said.

Rare Meteorite Found Using New Camera Network In Australian Desert
Science Daily Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:19 AM PDT
Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from, in a very rare finding.

Descubren extraño meteorito en el desierto australiano

latercera.com - santiago,Ñuñoa,Chile
El meteorito, de composición basáltica, habría seguido una inusual órbita alrededor del Sol, antes de caer en la Tierra en julio de 2007. ...