Meteor/Meteorite News- 27OCT09

Meteoriten-Scherz wird teuer

20minuten - Zürich,Switzerland
Der medienwirksame PR-Aktion einer lettischen Telefongesellschaft über einen angeblichen Meteoriten-Einschlag findet die Regierung des baltischen Landes gar ...

Krater wykopano w pobliżu miasta Mazsalaca na północy Łotwy , Ints Kalnins , Reuters

Drogi dowcip z meteorytem

eFakt.pl - Poland
Operator sieci komórkowej Tele2 wymyślił akcję z meteorytem na Łotwie. Teraz drogo za to zapłaci Akcja, która miała być genialną reklamą, ...





Blast in Bone a result of falling meteorite: Experts

Jakarta Post
Lapan expert Thomas Djamaluddin said the meteorite struck the atmosphere at a speed of 20.3 kilometers per second, causing a major blast that equaled an ...

Meteorit: Lettischer Mobilfunker Tele 2 wird Strafe zahlen

Baltische Rundschau - Vilnius,Lithuania
Kein Meteorit bzw. kein Teil eines Erdsatelliten sei entdeckt worden. “Diese ganze Geschichte hat sich als eine Ente erwiesen. Der 'Meteorit' ist eine ...

Meteorit entlastet russische Kampfjets in Indonesien

RIA Novosti - Moscow,Russia
Wie ein Sprecher der indonesischen Raumfahrtbehörde am Dienstag erklärte, war ein Meteorit mit zehn Metern Durchmesser am 8. ...

Smuggler carried snakes in clothes

Herald.ie
A meteorite-like crater found in northern Latvia is probably man-made and a hoax, experts said. The nine-meter wide and three-meter deep crater wasn't ...

Είδηση «μαϊμού» ο μετεωρίτης στη Λετονία

Ελευθεροτυπία - Greece
Η λετονική εταιρεία κινητής τηλεφωνίας Tele2 παραδέχθηκε το απόγευμα της Δευτέρας ότι σκηνοθέτησε για διαφημιστικούς σκοπούς την «πτώση μετεωρίτη» σε χωριό ...

Harri Koposen telekonserni pudotti meteoriitin Latviassa

Digitoday - Finland
27.10.2009 10:10 Ruotsalainen telekonserni myönsi olevansa Latviassa kohua herättäneen meteoriitti-iskun takana. Meteoriitti oli osa Tele2:n mainoskampanjaa ...

Lettland: Meteorit von Mobilfunkfirma inszenierter Gag

russland-aktuell.ru - Moscow,Russia
Der angeblich auf einem Feld in der lettischen Provinz eingeschlagene Meteorit war ein Gag einer Mobilfunkfirma. Janis Sprogis, der Marketing-Chef von ...

Experts diuen que la caiguda del meteorit va ser un engany

Diari de Girona - Girona,Girona,Spain
Geòlegs van confirmar ahir que la suposada caiguda d'un meteorit d'abans-d'ahir a la nit en una granja de Letònia va ser un ?engany escenificat per persones ...

Meteorite is a flash in the pan

Independent Online
Riga - A remote field in northern Latvia briefly became the site of a media feeding frenzy on Monday after local media reported a meteor strike on Sunday ...

Baltic 'meteorite' a flaming hoax

USA Today
In a nationalistic publicity stunt to "inspire Latvia" to be all it can be, telephone company Tele2 staged a phony meteorite impact near the near the ...

Meteorite expert Mike Reynolds chats about falling stars

Astronomy Magazine
Astronomy Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds presented a talk at the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show about meteorite collecting. ...
See all stories on this topic

SkyCenter Hosts Special Leonid Meteor Program Nov. 17

University of Arizona News (press release)
(Credit: David Harvey) If you've never experienced a Leonid meteor shower at the 9157-foot summit of Mount Lemmon, here's your chance. ...

Day in pictures

BBC News
Latvian authorities at first suspected a meteorite was the cause of a 15m (49ft) crater which appeared near the northern town of Mazsalaca, but some experts ...

BBC News

The hole was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite, he said.

BBC News
It would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth, as most objects burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface. In 2007, a meteorite ...
See all stories on this topic

RT

Latvian UFO revealed to be PR trick

RT
Fire fighters and police worked at the scene, where the crater was first believed to be the result of a meteor strike. Later the owner of the property ...



Krater na północy Łotwy nie powstał od uderzenia meteorytu

Gazeta Wyborcza - Warszawa,Poland
Ryga (PAP/AP) - Naukowcy badający w rejonie miasta Mazsalaca na północy Łotwy krater, o którym początkowo myślano, że powstał w wyniku upadku meteorytu, ...

Latvian meteoriitti olikin kännykkäoperaattorin julkisuustemppu

YLE - Finland
Maailmanlaajuisesti uutisoitu Latvian meteoriitti on paljastunut kännykkäoperaattorin julkisuustempuksi. Uutistoimistot ja useat tiedotusvälineet ehtivät ...

Day in Photos

Washington Post
Oct. 26: Officials stand next to a 49-foot wide crater near the Latvian town of Mazsalaca, where a suspected meteorite crashed into the earth. ...

Lotyšsko: Kráter po údajnom meteorite je v skutočnosti dielom človeka

DNES.sk - Slovakia
Odborníci skúmajúci neďaleko lotyšsko-estónskych hraníc rozsiahly kráter, o ktorom sa tvrdilo, že ho spôsobil meteorit, dospeli po podrobnejšej analýze k ...

Einschlag von Himmelskörper nur inszeniert

WELT ONLINE - Berlin,Germany
Berichte über den „gewaltigen Meteoriten“ aus dem All hatten zuvor auch international ... Einschläge von Meteoriten sind ausgesprochen selten, in der langen ...

„Gewaltiger Meteorit“ über Lettland nur ein Scherz

Bild.de - Germany
Nachwuchsbands haben die Chance auf einen Auftritt in der RTL-Soap „Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten“. Talente zwischen 18 und 30 Jahren können sich ab sofort ...

Łotwa: Meteoryt czy zwykły dół?

Polskie Radio - Warszawa,Mazowieckie,Poland
Krater, który powstał rzekomo po uderzeniu meteorytu w rejonie miasta Mazsalaca na północy Łotwy, to zwykła dziura wykopana przez człowieka - donoszą media. ...

Experts: Latvian Meteor Crater Probably a Hoax FOXNews That's the question Monday as geologists study a 30-foot wide crater that some claim was caused by a 3-foot meteorite, and others say is just the work of ... See all stories on this topic

Latvian meteorite impact: fake Discover Magazine I have been getting email from people talking about a possible meteorite impact in northern Latvia yesterday. I had a blog post all ready to go saying this ...

BBC News

Doubts over Latvia 'meteor crash'

BBC News
Scientists investigating a large crater in a field in northern Latvia, believed to have been caused by a meteorite, now suspect it was a hoax. ...

Wielki krater = wielka ściema

TVN24 - Warsawa,Poland
Wcześniej sądzono, że krater powstał po tym, jak w ziemię uderzył sporej wielkości meteoryt. W poniedziałek rano łotewscy strażacy poinformowali o tym, ...

Media duped again? Latvia meteor strike likely fake

INDenverTimes.com
Russian blogs claimed this image was taken from a video filmed on a mobile phone just after the meteor crashed to earth In the aftermath of the recent ...

Co to spadlo na Lotyšsko? Vědci zkoumají obří kráter

ČT24 - Czech Republic
Vědci začali pátrat po jeho původu, podle prvního dojmu jde o meteorit. ... Podle odborníků je ale neobvyklé, aby na Zemi dopadl tak velký meteorit. ...

Russian/Chinese Mars Mission Rescheduled for 2011- 27OCT09

Joint Russian and Chinese Mission to Mars Slips to 2011

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0909/19phobos/

Joint Russian and Chinese mission to Mars slips to 2011
BY CRAIG COVAULT
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
September 20, 2009

Planetary mission sources say the Russian Space Agency will officially
delay launch of its sample return mission to the Martian moon Phobos
until 2011 because of delays with integration and test of the vehicle in
time to make its originally planned October launch window.

The delay also affects China's first mission to Mars. The 240 lb.
Chinese Yinghou-1 spacecraft was to be mounted atop the Russian
spacecraft for transport to Martian orbit where it was to be released
before the Russian spacecraft landed on Phobos. The mission was to have
been launched on board a Zenit heavy booster from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome between October 6-16.


Credit: Lavochkin


Designed with its five primary elements stacked atop one another (see
graphic above) the Russian Phobos mission is one of the most daring
planetary flights ever planned by either the U.S. or former Soviet
Union. It is being built by the Lavochkin Association facility, which
has developed many previous successful Soviet planetary missions and
also builds Russian military spacecraft today.

Those elements include a planetary cruise stage and descent stage with
landing legs atop which are stacked an ascent stage and sample return
capsule. The Chinese spacecraft (not pictured) is to ride on platform
added above the sample capsule, but separated before the landing on Phobos.

The fully integrated spacecraft (see graphic below) has a launch weight
of more than 24,400 lb. including propellants. It is to fly to Mars
about 200 million mi. from Earth then land on the 15 mi. dia. moon that
orbits about 5,800 mi. above Mars.

[Graphic]
Credit: Lavochkin

Using a sample apparatus similar to that carried to Earth's moon on
three successful Soviet unmanned lunar landing missions, the Phobos
lander is to drill into the surface of Phobos to obtain a sample from as
deep as 3 ft. below the surface. The apparatus is also designed so
ground controllers using the spacecraft's television system can spot and
pick up rock pebbles for return to earth. Up to about 160 grams (5.5 oz)
of soil and rocks could be collected.

The sample is to be elevated to a soccer ball sized Earth return capsule
mounted atop a coffee table sized Earth return bus. Several days of
sample operations would be conducted before the ascent stage carrying
the Earth return capsule is fired off the lander. It will need only
about 22 fps of velocity to escape the small gravity of the moon.

Once back in the vicinity of Earth, the capsule would be separated from
the ascent stage and reenter the Earth's atmosphere for a parachute
landing and recovery in Australia.

Phobos is believed by many planetary scientists to be a captured
asteroid, but it could also be dotted with dust pockets of Martian
material that could have landed on Phobos after large meteor impacts on
Mars. This means that samples of the body could yield a bonanza of data
on the composition of both asteroids and Mars. That data is of
increasing importance given the emphasis being placed on other future
sample return flights, including possible manned missions, to asteroids
much closer to Earth, as well as Phobos and eventually Mars itself.

U.S. geologist Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis (a
member of both the NASA Mars rover and Phoenix lander science teams)
says he has been helping the Chinese develop standardized data formats
for the mission. This is so the data from the Chinese orbiter can be
used by international planetary scientists.

The scientific payload on the Chinese spacecraft consists of several
instruments including a camera with 660 ft. resolution to monitor
Martian dust storms. It also carries a plasma package with electron and
ion sensors along with a mass spectrometer, a magnetometer and
radio-occultation sounder.

The shift to 2011 means that the U.S., Russia and China will all be
flying major missions to Mars in that same timeframe. NASA's Mars
Science Laboratory (MSL) rover was also delayed to the late 2011 Martian
launch window because of its own development and test problems.

Source: Ron Baalke, NASA

Meteroids 2010 Conference Scheduled- 26OCT09

Meteroids 2010 Conference Scheduled

http://www.cora.nwra.com/Meteoroids2010/

Meteroids 2010
Brekenridge, Colorado
An International Conference on Minor Bodies in the Solar System
May 24-28, 2010

*_FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT_*

Call for contributed talks and posters
Early registration DEADLINE TBD
Registration fee increases after TBD

*Please pre-register in order to help us with the planning of the logistics
of the conference*
****Click here to pre-register**** <http://www.cora.nwra.com/Meteoroids2010/Form.html

>

This conference will be the seventh in a series of meetings on
meteoroids and related topics, which have been held approximately every
three years since 1993. In 2007 the meeting was organized by the Institut
d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) and the /Institut de Ciencies de
l'Espai (CSIC) /and was held in CosmoCaixa, the science museum of the
Obra Social Fundacio La Caixa in Barcelona, Spain. The topics covered
during that meeting included the origin, nature, evolution and dynamics of
solar system minor bodies, with special emphasis on the study of
micrometer- to meter-sized fragments of comets and asteroids.

The 2010 meeting programme is expected to have sessions which cover the
following areas:


- Observational techniques and meteor detection programs

- Meteor shower activity and forecasting

- Dynamics, sources and spatial distribution of meteoroids including
sporadic, swarm and interstellar meteoroids

- Meteoroid interactions with Earth and planetary atmospheres;
ablation, fragmentation, deceleration.

- Atmospheric effects induced by meteors; Physics and chemistry of
meteor interactions processes in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere

- Astromineralogy: properties of meteoroids

- Interrelationships: meteoroids - IDPs - dust - micrometeorites -
meteorites

- Meteoroid flux and impact hazard; Hypervelocity impacts
on the moon and spacecraft

- Meteor studies in astrobiology: organics and delivery process

- New techniques for detections of meteors and fireballs

- Meteor detection including cameras, telescopes, lidar, seismic and
infrasound sensors

- Radar observations and large aperture radars

Both invited and contributed talks, will be included in the program. The
program schedule will encourage informal interchange between the different
research communities. Deadlines for registration and abstract submission
for contributed talks and posters will be
announced in the Fall of 2009.

Source: Ron Baalke, NASA

Meteor/Meteorite News- 26OCT09

Obiekt podobny do meteorytu spadł w rejonie miasta Mazsalaca na ...
Polskie Radio - Warszawa,Mazowieckie,Poland
Jak przekazał Associated Press, jego pierwszym wrażeniem było to, że doszło do upadku meteorytu. Agencja ITAR-TASS, powołując się na opinię geologa Dajnisa ...


Splatvia! Falling Meteor Blamed For Crater
Sky News
A meteorite hurtling to Earth is thought to have left a 15-metre wide crater in Latvia. To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your ...


Fiery 'meteor' creates 50ft crater in Latvian countryside

Daily Mail
No-one was injured in the incident and geologists are now studying the object, which may be a meteorite. Locals claimed the object fell near a farmhouse on ...

Werd Letland dit weekend getroffen door een meteoriet?
De Morgen - Brussel,Belgium
Zijn eerste indruk was dat een echte meteoriet op de plaats was gevallen. De krater smeulde nog na en dus gelooft Nulle dat er echt een meteoriet op Letland ...

Day in pictures
BBC News
The Latvian authorities believe a meteorite was the cause of a 15m (49ft) crater which appeared in the northern town of Mazsalaca. ...

Meteor hits above Indonesia
iTWire
Experts now say it was a meteor hitting the atmosphere of Earth, and exploding with the energy of approximately 40000 to 50000 tons (40 to 50 kilotons) of ...

Meteoriet-inslag' in Letland is fake
Alles over sterrekunde - Amersfoort,Utrecht,Netherlands
'We weten allemaal dat meteorieten niet heet zijn wanneer ze op aarde terechtkomen,' aldus Kowalski op een internationale planetoïden-maillijst. ...

Art show out of this world!
Bradford Telegraph Argus
These include a piece of a Mars meteorite, an original Cosmonaut suit belonging to Russia's Yuri Gidzenko, packets of NASA space food and a pen that defied ...


Ptosiko taivaalta meteoriitti? Katso vaikuttava video!
MTV3 - Helsinki,Finland
Monet asiantuntijat ovat epäilleet, että kyseessä oli meteoriitti, joidenkin arvailujen mukaan kyseessä olisi puolestaan avaruudesta pudonnut satelliitti. ...

Meteoor

Meteoriet slaat groot gat

Nos Jeugdjournaal - Hilversum,Netherlands
Volgens deskundigen komt het bijna nooit voor dat een meteoriet zo'n grote krater veroorzaakt op aarde. Hoewel er veel vallende sterren zijn, komen ze bijna ...


Co spadło na Łotwę? Krater ma 15 metrów
Dziennik - Warszawa,Poland
Obiekt podobny do meteorytu spadł w rejonie miasta Mazsalaca na północy Łotwy. Na łące pozostawił krater o głębokości kilku metrów. ...
Onko Latvian jättimeteoriitti huijausta?
Ilta-Sanomat - Helsinki,Finland
Tarinaa epäillään huijaukseksi, sillä näin suuri meteoriitti olisi asiantuntijoiden mukaan ... Ensimmäinen vaikutelmani oli, että kyllä, meteoriitti se oli. ...


Fiery 'meteor' creates 50-foot crater in Latvian countryside
Daily Mail
According to media reports, the object – thought to be a meteorite – fell near a residential house on the outskirts of Mazsalaca town in the Valmiera ...

Riga: Unbekanntes Objekt wahrscheinlich ein Meteorit oder Erdsatellit
ShortNews.de - Germany
Die zuständigen staatlichen Behörden vermuten einen Erdsatelliten oder Meteoriten. Inge Vetere, Stellvertreterin der Brandschutz- und Rettungsbehörde, ...

Meteoriet slaat grote krater in Letland
NOS.nl - Netherlands
Een mogelijke meteoriet heeft in Letland een grote krater van negen meter breed en drie meter diep geslagen. Het object kwam neer in de buurt van een ...

Meteorite-like object falls in Latvia
The Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia — A meteorite-like object crashed into a meadow in northern Latvia, creating a crater 27 feet (9 meters) wide and 9 feet (3 meters) deep, ...

LOTYŠSKO: Na severe krajiny pravdepodobne dopadol meteorit
TA3 - Bratislava,Slovakia
Na severe Lotyšska pravdepodobne dopadol v nedeľu poobede meteorit, ktorý vytvoril pätnásť metrov široký a päť metrov hlboký kráter. ...
「NASAに敬意」本物の隕石を使用した限定ラグジュアリーモバイルフォン。
Narinari.com
... はホンモノの隕石を使用した端末が登場する。 Mobiadoが発表したのは「350 Pioneer」。今年6月に発表されたグランドラインの「350PRL」に改良を加えた新モデルだ。 ...

Meteorite-like object falls in Latvia
The Associated Press
... are waiting for geologists from the University of Latvia University to arrive. She says the geologists will determine whether the object is a meteorite.


На территории Латвии упал радиоактивный метеорит

РБК Украина - Ukraine
Фото: (C) AP В ночь с воскресенья на понедельник на востоке Латвии возле города Мазалсаце недалеко от жилого дома упал метеорит. ...
Mobiado: элитный телефон из частей метеорита
CNews.ru - Russia
Известный производитель Mobiado представил новый аппарат, выполненный из алюминия, золота и фрагментов метеорита. Гаджет Mobiado 350 Pioneer представляет ...

На месте падения метеорита в Латвии слега повышена радиация
Интерфакс - Москва,Russia
RU - Латвийские специалисты зафиксировали повышение радиационного фона на месте упавшего в воскресенье в районе города Мазасцалы метеорита. ...

В кратере упавшего метеорита в Латвии обнаружили радиацию
БалтИнфо.ru - Санкт-Петербург,Russia
Рига, 26 октября. Обследовав место падения «небесного тела», специалисты обнаружили повышенный радиационный фон, сообщает Telegraf.lv. ...

ちょうど10日前に隕石激突で東京が滅びてしまっていたかもしれない件

ギズモード・ジャパン
実は今から10日前に地球と月の間を直径30フィート（約9m）の隕石「2009 TM8」が、時速1万8163マイル（約2万9230km）の猛スピードで横切っていたことが判明！ ...


Meteorite falls in northern Latvia, no one injured - local media
RIA Novosti
RIGA, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - No one was injured after a meteorite fell near a small town in northern Latvia on Sunday, local Latvian media reported. ...


Meteorite Strikes Latvia; World Continues To Ignore This Country
Russia!
Large meteorite fell on a field near a small town in Latvia, creating a 20-meter crater. Nobody was hurt. Local farmers called 911 to let them know about ...

Opportunity Examines A Meteorite Called 'Mackinac'
Space Daily
by Staff Writers Opportunity surveyed another meteorite and has been driving ambitiously to the west and south to get around a field of large ripples. ...

 Латвию атаковал крупный метеорит
Интерновости.ру - новости в стране и мире - Москва,Russia
На севере страны зарегистрировано падение крупного метеорита, сообщает Lenta.ru со ссылкой на NovoNews. Падение гостя из космоса произошло в районе

На севере Латвии упал метеорит
Lenta.ru - Москва,Russia
По сообщениям местных телеканалов, метеорит упал неподалеку от городка Мазсалаца, расположенного в Валмиерском районе. Как уточняет "Телеграф.lv", ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: Top News
Las Vegas Review - Journal
Ruins of the Cook Bank building in Rhyolite stand beneath a palette of stars during the Orionid meteor shower early Wednesday. The annual Orionid shower, ...

Comets Promote Life- 25OCT09

Comets May Give Life a Hand

http://www.astrobio.net/exclusive/3257/comets-may-give-life-a-hand

Comets May Give Life a Hand
Michael Schirber
Astrobiology Magazine
September 24, 2009

Summary: A comet hitting Earth would seem to bring only death and
destruction, but one group is studying how such an impact could promote
certain necessary chemical steps in the origin of life. The researchers
are focusing on how comet collisions might have influenced the molecular
orientation, or handedness, of our planet's biology.

Billions of years ago, comets may have ferried life-sustaining water to
our planet's surface, but that may not be all that we should thank these
dirty snowballs for. Researchers are simulating comet impacts to see if
they might help proliferate the left-handedness in molecules that life
on Earth depends upon.

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 to be on primordial Earth," says Jennifer Blank of the SETI Institute.

She and her colleagues study comets as a second avenue for depositing
these biological compounds on Earth. Their current work, which is
supported by NASA's Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology Program, is
looking at how the fire and brimstone of a comet impact may benefit the
formation of complex molecules of a particular handedness.

Primordial Lab

Life on Earth uses 20 amino acids to build up the thousands upon
thousands of different proteins that perform a myriad of cell functions.
Astrobiologists often focus on the origins of amino acids in order to
understand where life may have come from.

One of the first experiments aimed at reproducing the primordial Earth
and its chemistry was undertaken by Stanley Miller in 1953. He was able
to synthesize amino acids using lightning-like discharges in a reducing
atmosphere of methane, ammonia and water - similar to what exists on
Jupiter.

Since that pioneering work, researchers have come to believe that
Earth's early atmosphere was in fact more oxidative, containing mostly
nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

"Without the reducing atmosphere, the Miller mechanism becomes much less
efficient at producing amino acids," Blank says.

One way to get around this is to make the amino acids in space and have
them come crashing down on-board meteorites and comets. There is ample
evidence that meteorites carry amino acids. And just recently, an amino
acid was discovered in comet material brought back by NASA's Stardust
spacecraft.

Blank and her colleagues were curious as to what happens to these
biomolecules when the "space capsule" they are riding in smacks into the
Earth.

The team has focused their work on comets, rather than meteors. Although
comets are less prevalent in the inner solar system, they have a few
possible advantages over their dry rocky counterparts when it comes to
delivering biologically relevant material to a planet's surface.

First of all, a comet impact is thought to be less harsh than that of a
meteorite because comets are less dense, which means their impact
generates lower temperatures and pressures. Blank says that the blow
would be further softened on a comet arriving at an oblique angle.

The second advantage of comets is that they carry water, which is key
for the chemical reactions that beget life. When the comet lands, its
ice melts, forming a little puddle near the crash site.

"Comets give you all the ingredients, like a compact evolution kit,"
Blank says.

[Diagram[
This schematic diagram shows the basic apparatus used by Blank's team to
simulate a comet impact. A projectile is fired (red arrow) into a
stationary target that contains an organic sample. The "comet" material
is then extracted and analyzed to determine what chemical reactions have
occurred.
Credit: /Jennifer Blank/

Of course, the primordial Earth was stocked with its own water, but "if
a comet or meteor were to land in the ocean, any interesting chemistry
would quickly be diluted away," says co-investigator George Cooper of
NASA Ames. A comet impact on dry land would give the organic molecules
on board the chance to amplify their numbers in the localized puddle.

Like Shooting Comets in a Barrel

To simulate a comet hitting pay dirt, Blank and her colleagues fire a
bullet into a metal container the size of a can of beans. In this
scenario, the container is the comet and the bullet is the hard ground.
Inside the container is a small chamber about as big as a quarter, in
which the scientists place a liquid sample of organic molecules.

"It's not super high-tech, but it is rather involved as far as the
structural complexity is concerned," Blank explains.

She and her colleagues take special care to ensure that the metal
container doesn't leak from the impact. Afterwards, they carefully drill
down to the chamber and draw out their "shocked" liquid sample.

In 2001, the team reported that amino acids placed in the comet
simulator were still intact following the impact, which surprised
other scientists.

"It's the coolest thing," Blank recounts. "People told us, 'Nothing is
going to survive, so why should we fund you?'"

Normally, the 1,000-degree-temperatures inside the smashed "comet" would
destroy any amino acids. But Blank believes the temperature rises and
falls too fast for the molecules to react. There is also enormous
pressure of 10,000 atmospheres that may be preventing the breakdown of
compounds.

However, the amino acids did more than just survive the crash. They also
started bonding together to form short chains up to 5-amino-acids long.

This comet-induced bonding may have played a role in the origin of life.
Typically, there is an energy barrier that prevents amino acids from
latching together. Indeed, organisms require enzymes to overcome this
barrier when putting together their proteins. But enzymes themselves are
proteins, so there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem: how do you
build up proteins before you have proteins to help build them up?

It is perhaps conceivable that a comet impact fused together the first
rudimentary protein pieces (called "peptides") and thereby got the whole
ball rolling.

Blank's group is now running simulations to see if they can model how
the energy barrier to amino acid bonding changes under the high
temperature and pressure of a comet impact.

Molecular Crash-Test Dummies

The scientists are also planning to do more comet crash tests. They will
be looking at sugars, which play an important part in the structure of
DNA and RNA. And they will be looking at amino acids again, this time
studying whether the handedness of comet passengers might be affected by
the impact.

In regard to the handedness, Blank thinks there might be a difference in
how the amino acids hook up together during the impact. Left-handed
amino acids may form chains more readily with other left-handed amino
acids, rather than with right-handed ones.

Such a preference, if it exists, might be able to enhance a slight
overabundance of one hand (a so-called enantiomeric excess in the original
comet material. This might explain why organisms only use left-handed
amino acids to form proteins.

"It will be a great discovery if they can get definite evidence as to
formation of sugars, peptides, or enantiomeric excess," says Yoshihiro
Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan, who was not involved with this
work.

He says the one concern will be contamination of the sample with the
left-handed biology we are already familiar with. He suggests using
amino acids made with carbon-13, so that any subsequent contamination
with normal carbon-12-based amino acids will be easy to detect.

Source: Ron Baalke, NASA

Meteor/Meteorite News- 25OCT09

Mercury directly opposite Earth on Nov. 5 Akron Beacon Journal Two meteor showers occur in November. The South Taurids peak on Nov. 5 and the meteors are probably debris shed by Comet 2P/Encke. ... See all stories on this topic

On the importance of dust The Newark Advocate The Orionids are a meteor shower associated with Halley's Comet, that "short period" comet which reminds us of the vastness of scale used by astronomers, ...

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Orillia Packet & Times
I noticed a few early meteors from the Orionid meteor shower. Earth was just entering a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet. ...

Is there a conspiracy in this hyper hoaxed world? Connecticut Post Breathless newscasters on Fox Business and CNBC read the bogus items like they were announcing a meteor was about to hit the Earth. ... See all stories on this topic

Demand Media – the Myspace of online content, or blogging by the numbers The Inquisitr It will be just like when that meteor hit the earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and leaving nothing but rodents. ...

UberGizmo (blog)

Mobiado 350 Pioneer

UberGizmo (blog)
One of the more unique aspects of this phone is that the battery cover is literally made out of materials from the Gibeon meteorite, which was discovered in ...

'Healthy competition' leads to discovery of 3 more space rocks
St. Catharines Standard Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:10 AM PDT
Meteorite hunters have dug up three more space rocks from the fireball that put Grimsby on the astronomical map last month. That brings the tally to four since scientists revealed last Thursday a rock that broke the windshield of a family's SUV in the town's west end was actually a fragment of 4.[...]

Fewer large asteroids- 24OCT09

Fewer large asteroids than as predicted

And now, from the pessimists...

A fine theory and simulation. A shame it doesn't
correspond in any way to reality. The impact rate
on terrestrial planets starts out very high at the
beginning of the solar system, declines for half
a billion years then rises again in a final flurry of
accretion and clean-up, at 3.9 billion years ago.
The rate declines in a fairly uniform manner
thereafter, but about 600-to-400 million years
ago, it suddenly climbs to a level not seen since
3.4 billion years ago, and it is STILL at that
higher level today.

This is from the actual impact record, not having-
fun-with-your-computer-model science kit. The
data is from impact spherules in the lunar regolith
and the graph of the impact rates throughout
time can be found on page 660 of:
http://muller.lbl.gov/papers/lunar_impacts_Nemesis.pdf

More information here:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_nemesis08.htm

True, this researcher thinks it might be proof of
a big comet infall due to an undiscovered companion
small star to the Sun, but so what? It might be, but
the immediate mechanism is likely to be asteroidal
breakup.

The timing matches perfectly with the breakup of
the L-chondrite parent body, the largest asteroidal
breakup in the past few billion years or so. The
evidence and timing for that is presented here:
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Mar04/fossilMeteorites.html

At about 480 million years ago (Ordovician times),
the meteorite fall rate on the Earth was 100 TIMES
GREATER than it is today, during the peak of that
breakup episode.

The history of the formation of the 50 or so asteroidal
families unambiguously identified does not match this
pretty little theory in the least. Reality is contingent,
accidental, and randomly chaotic, and NOT "well
described with a logarithmic decay law."

Source: Sterling K. Webb, USA

Meteor/Meteorite News- 24OCT09

Mobiado's Grand 350 Pioneer is fit for an extraterrestrial

engadget (blog)
The out-of-this-world spec sheet doesn't end there, though: you also get a meteorite embedded behind the display's sapphire crystal and etched text on the ...

More meteor chunks in Grimsby Hamilton Spectator GRIMSBY – Scientists and residents have now turned up four more meteorite chunks in west Grimsby. The University of Western Ontario Planetary Science and ... See all stories on this topic

Star party planned for Saturday night Deseret News There also could be a meteor or two from the Orionids meteor shower, which is just ending. The star party goes from 6:30 to 10 pm There is no charge, ...

Jesus in Ikea -- The top 10 sightings of the son of God

Asylum
Jesus in a meteorite. The face of Jesus appeared in a meteorite which broke in two after smashing into eastern Russia in 1916. A keen-eyed scientist spotted ...

Meteor/Meteorite News- NASA Mission to Study the Moon's Fragile Atmosphere 23OCT09

NASA Mission to Study the Moon's Fragile Atmosphere
NASA Science News
10.23.2009
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/23oct_ladee.htm

Oct. 23, 2009: Right now, the Moon is a ghost town. Nothing stirs.
Here and there, an abandoned Apollo rover - or the dusty base of a lunar
lander - linger as silent testimony to past human activity. But these
days, only occasional asteroid impacts disrupt the decades-long spell of
profound stillness.

And this stillness presents scientists with an important opportunity.

Currently, the Moon's tenuous atmosphere is relatively undisturbed. But
that won't be true for long. NASA is planning to return people to the
Moon, and human activity will kick up dust, expel rocket exhaust, and
release other gaseous emissions into the lunar atmosphere. Because the
atmosphere is so thin, these disturbances could quickly swamp its
natural composition.

If scientists are ever to know the lunar atmosphere in a relatively
natural state, now is the time to look. So researchers are building a
probe called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)
that will orbit the Moon and measure its wispy atmosphere better than
ever before.

"It's important that we understand it in its pristine state before
there's much perturbation," says Anthony Colaprete of NASA's Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field, California. "It's such a fragile
system. It's possible that it will be hard to study once humans are once
more living and working on the Moon."

*Thinner than thin*

Right about now, you might be thinking to yourself: "Hold on a second. I
thought the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere!" And you would be almost
correct. The Moon's "atmosphere" is so tenuous that it's technically
considered an exosphere, not an atmosphere.

"It's not anything like an atmosphere we would think of," Colaprete
says. For example, a cubic centimeter of Earth's atmosphere at sea level
contains about 100 billion /billion/ molecules. That same volume of the
Moon's exosphere contains only about 100 molecules.

In fact, that's so thin that molecules in the lunar exosphere almost
never collide with each other. Rather than constantly ricocheting off
each other to create a cohesive, swarming mass of molecules as happens
in Earth's atmosphere, molecules in the lunar exosphere fly unimpeded,
like microscopic cannon balls following curved, ballistic trajectories.

And the weirdness of the exosphere doesn't stop there. During the lunar
night, the Moon's exosphere mostly falls to the ground. (Just imagine if
our atmosphere fell to the ground at night!) When sunlight returns, the
solar wind kicks up new particles to replenish the exosphere.

Also, intense ultraviolet sunlight kicks electrons off particles in the
lunar soil, giving those particles an electric charge that can cause
them to levitate. Ambient electric fields lift these charged dust
particles as high as kilometers above the surface, forming an important
part of the exosphere.

Lunar astronauts will have to live and work in this bizarre environment,
so scientists want a better picture of the exosphere and its odd
behaviors. Levitating dust can get into equipment, spacesuits, and
computers, causing damage and shortening the hardware's useful life. In
fact, moondust wrecked havoc with the Apollo spacesuits, which were
nearly threadbare by the time they returned to Earth. Knowing how much
dust is floating around in the exosphere and how it behaves will help
engineers design next-generation lunar hardware.

After it launches in 2012, LADEE's spectrometers and dust detectors will
measure the concentrations of 18 different chemicals in the exosphere,
including methane and water vapor. These sensors will document how those
chemicals vary, both from place to place and over time.

Beyond the inherent scientific value of understanding the
chemical makeup of the Moon's exosphere, knowing how chemicals move
within the exosphere could help answer a question of keen interest to
future human habitants: How could the Moon have frozen reserves of water?

Evidence suggests that the Moon might harbor stores of ice in deep, dark
polar craters. On the lunar surface, fierce sunlight would quickly
sublimate any ice and the vapors would drift off into space. But a deep
dark crater, combining unimaginable cold with an absence of sunlight,
could provide a safe-haven for frozen water.

A popular idea is that icy comets brought water to the Moon in a series
of ancient impacts. But there's a problem: Even if a comet landed in one
of those dark polar craters by sheer luck, the heat of impact would
evaporate most of the ice. So how could significant amounts of ice
accumulate?

The Moon's exosphere could help.

Suppose a comet hits the Moon and leaves some H_2 O molecules on the
exposed surface. That water could survive by, essentially, leaping to
safety. Water molecules could "jump" across the lunar surface by
escaping into the exosphere and later be recaptured by the surface as
the exosphere breathes in and out. Individual water molecules could move
around in this way until they land in one of the dark polar craters,
where they would accumulate as solid ice.

Data from LADEE should show whether this "jumping" process works in a
way that could explain how cometary ice could have found its way into
those craters. "We can estimate the likelihood that the water on the
Moon is cometary in origin," Colaprete says.

So much information from such a trifling amount of atmosphere! Stay
tuned for results from LADEE.

Author: Patrick Barry | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips
Credit: Science@NASA

Quaternary Period - Pleistocene Epoch Changed- 23OCT09

Start of Quaternary Period - Pleistocene Epoch Now 2.58 Million Years Ago

End of an Era: New Ruling Decides the Boundaries of Earth's
History, September 22, 2009

http://www.physorg.com/news172824857.html

After decades of debate and four years of investigation an
international body of earth scientists has formally agreed
to move the boundary dates for the prehistoric Quaternary
age by 800,000 years, reports the Journal of Quaternary
Science.

The paper is:

Gibbard et al., 2009, Formal ratification of the Quaternary
System/Period and the Pleistocene Series/Epoch with a
base at 2.58 Ma. Journal of Quaternary Science.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122602421/abstract

Source: Paul H., USA

Meteor/Meteorite News- 23OCT09

Brandenburger macht hauptberuflich Jagd auf Meteoriten

ShortNews.de - Germany
Wann immer irgendwo ein Meteorit auf die Erde niedergeht, macht sich der Brandenburger Thomas Grau auf die Suche. Der Märker ist der einzige ...

More Chunks of SUV-Smashing Meteorite Found Universe Today Three golf ball-sized fragments have been found from a meteorite that created a brilliant fireball seen over Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2009. ...

War of the Worlds' to be performed at Stage West

Tampa Tribune
Suddenly, a meteorite lands in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. As a crowd gathers, the meteorite unscrews, and onlookers see a pulsating, barely moving Martian. ...

Country Cousin Peshtigo Times If the skies clear up we're being treated this week to a meteor shower from Orion's belt. Well, not really, but astronomers tell us the annual Orionid ... See all stories on this topic

PAGE 2 news notes for Oct. 22 Enterprise News Astronomers assure us that you can see dozens of meteors per hour if you are willing to set the alarm extra early Friday morning. The Orionid meteor shower ...

Exploding Fireball Rattles European Windows Earthweek - A Diary of the Planet The disintegrating meteor created a sonic boom followed by low rumbles that rattled windows across the region. Amateur photographer Robert Mikaelyan had ...

Space debris in Grimsby!

CKTB
According to Phil McCausland from the University of Western Ontario Planetary Science and Exploration Department, the original golf-ball sized meteorite ...

Resident suspects he saw meteor hit park

Jackson Hole Daily
Although he had on his high beams, the amateur astronomer could see the reddish sparks flying from what he has concluded was a meteor. ...

More Chunks of SUV-Smashing Meteorite Found
Universe Today Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:18 PM PDT
Three golf ball-sized fragments have been found from a meteorite that created a brilliant fireball seen over Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2009. The first meteorite fragment recovered did some damage to the windshield of a Nissan Pathfinder, and now two other fragments have been found on nearby properties. The meteor made headlines [...]

'Healthy competition' leads to discovery of 3 more space rocks St. Catharines Standard Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:40 PM PDT Meteorite hunters have dug up three more space rocks from the fireball that put Grimsby on the astronomical map last month. That brings the tally to four since scientists revealed last Thursday a rock that broke the windshield of a family's SUV in the town's west end was actually a fragment of 4.[...]

Three more space rocks found in Grimsby Welland Tribune Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:19 PM PDT GRIMSBY â Meteorite hunters have dug up three more space rocks from the fireball that put Grimsby on the astronomical map last month.[...]

Grimsby meteorite finds are âworldwide newsâ
Niagara This Week Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:06 PM PDT
Hot on the trail of the meteorite fallout from a fireball that lit up the Lake Ontario skies, scientists, meteorite hunters and media have converged on the Grimsby area in search of the 4.6 billion-year-old black, burned rocks. ...

Meteor shower tonight! Orionid meteor shower begins at 1 am

Christian Science Monitor
Meteor shower tonight? Yep, peak viewing times for the Orionid meteor shower begins tonight (er... tomorrow) at 1 am. By Jimmy Orr | 10.20.09 Are you ready ...

Another Automatic Date Win: Tonight's Meteor Shower

BlackBook Magazine
Did you miss the last meteor shower? If so, the skies are giving you a another chance to gaze at the heavens while a dazzling display of meteors zoom by ...

The Passions of Meteorite Seekers

Science Magazine (subscription)
Cokinos weaves together an account of meteorites, a history of meteorite hunters, and his own travels in the footsteps of collectors and researchers. ...

More meteorite chunks discovered

Western News
The pair are wearing gloves to protect the meteorite.aptiontexthere “The response from the media and the people of Grimsby has really driven this hunt,” ...

Orionid Meteor Shower Continues To Enchant Stargazers

Thaindian.com
By Gina Gomez Oct 22, (THAINDIAN NEWS) For the last few days, meteor shower have became quite a spectacle view in the night sky, which proves to be quite an ...

Meteor shower October 22 and Orionid meteor shower October 2009

Khabrein.info
It is going to be a superb opportunity to view the falling meteor from the sky. It is said that the best time for viewing meteors during October on 21st and ...

Meteor/Meteorite News- Grimbsy Meteorite 22OCT09

Grimsby meteorite finds are ‘worldwide news’

By Joanne McDonald

Grimsby

Oct 21, 2009
Hot on the trail of the meteorite fallout from a fireball that lit up the Lake Ontario skies, scientists, meteorite hunters and media have converged on the Grimsby area in search of the 4.6 billion-year-old black, burned rocks.

The count is up to three meteorites now found and there are estimates that dozens, maybe hundreds of pieces may be strewn across a path in the immediate area since the rocks rained down Sept. 25. ... (more)

http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/communities/Regional/article/283476

Siberian Extinction 250mya- 22OCT09

Siberian volcanism 'wiped out world's forests' 250m years ago

Siberian volcano 'wiped out world's forests' 250m years ago
A huge Siberian volcano destroyed the world's forests 250
million years ago in what scientists say was the worst extinction
event the planet has ever witnessed, new research has disclosed.
Telegraph, UK,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6253147/Siberian-volcano-wiped-out-worlds-forests-250m-years-ago.html

Sephton, M. A., H. Visscher, C. V. Looy, A. B. Verchovsky,and J. S.
Watson, 2009, Chemical constitution of a Permian-Triassic disaster
species. Geology. vol. 37, pp. 875-878, doi:10.1130/G30096A.1

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/37/10/875.abstract

Source: Paul H., USA

meteor/Meteorite News- 22OCT09

Make way for meteors! The Orionids are coming!

Christian Science Monitor
It's expected to peak about then, with perhaps as many as 60 or more meteors an hour flitting across the sky. Trace their streaks of light backward. ...

Meteor shower October 2009

番禺网
The Orionid meteor shower, a trail of debris left in space by Halley's Comet, was at its most intense in the early hours of Wednesday. ...

Remainders — Things We Didn't Post

Gizmodo Australia
[BGR] Did you guys know the Orionid meteor shower is tonight? I bet you did. You're a smart bunch. I bet I don't even have to tell you that the Orionid ...

For Tampa Bay, this meteor shower will be hard to see

Tampabay.com
By Brant James, Times Staff Writer Maybe you've heard about the Orionid meteor shower that is lighting up the pre-dawn skies. If you live in the Tampa Bay ...

Three more space rocks found in Grimsby
St. Catharines Standard Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:50 PM PDT
Meteorite hunters have dug up three more space rocks from the fireball that put Grimsby on the astronomical map last month. That brings the tally to four since scientists revealed last Thursday a rock that broke the windshield of a familyâs SUV in the townâs west end was actually a fragment of 4.[...]

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Test Rocket, Moon Plume, More National Geographic Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:40 AM PDT Get an astronaut's-eye view of a volcanic eruption, examine a newfound Martian meteorite, see proof that a NASA craft smashed into the moon, and more in the week's best space pictures.

Opportunity Finds Another Meteorite on Mars
SpaceRef Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:29 PM PDT
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found a rock that apparently is another meteorite, less than three weeks after driving away from a larger meteorite that the rover examined for six weeks.

Three more space rocks found in Grimsby

St. Catharines Standard
Meteorite hunters have dug up three more space rocks from the fireball that put Grimsby on the astronomical map last month. That brings the tally to four ...

Geologists analyzing Shiva crater on west coast

Times of India
The 40-km wide crater is thought to have been formed by a meteorite that crashed into the Earth 65 million years ago. The meteorite was travelling at 58000 ...

5 Things to Do This Weekend (Oct. 23-25) Nebraska City News Press An Orionid meteor streaking across the sky below the Milky Way and to the right of Venus. The zodiacal light can also be seen in the image. ... See all stories on this topic

Algae: A key player in mass extinctions? United Press International Castle said nutrient-rich fallout from a volcano eruption or meteor impact lands in the water and becomes food for algae. The algae explode in population, ...

What's the buzz on the Orionid meteor shower last night?

Christian Science Monitor
Peak viewing time for the Orionid meteor shower occurred late last night and early this morning. By Jimmy Orr | 10.21.09 So how was the Orionid meteor ...

The 2009 Orionid Meteor Shower

NASA
The false-color images above are composite images from 2009 Orionids meteor shower observations, as seen in the skies over Huntsville, Ala. ...


Perfect October weather ... until Friday

Baltimore Sun
Counts will be declining for the rest of the week, but the meteor-watching should still be worthwhile. Best time to look? In the hours before dawn.

Meteor shower tonight: Orionids

Examiner.com
The Orionid meteor shower tonight is a continuation of the Earth's passage through the debris of Halley's Comet. Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteorid Environment ...

Starwatch: Dolphin swims into sky

Post-Bulletin
The Orionid meteor peaks this week, especially Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The earth this week is passing through a debris trail left behind by Halley's ...

Sudbury Impact- New Papers 21OCT09

The Sudbury impact layer in the Paleoproterozoic of northern Michigan, USA

Cannon, W. F., K. J. Schulz, J. Wright Horton, Jr., and
David A. Kring, 2009, The Sudbury impact layer in the
Paleoproterozoic iron ranges of northern Michigan, USA.
Geological Society of America Bulletin. Ahead of Print,
September 25, 2009

http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/early/2009/09/24/B26517.1.abstract

Pufahl, P. K., Eric E. Hiatt, Clifford R. Stanley, Jared
R. Morrow, Gabriel J. Nelson, and Cole T. Edwards, 2009,
Physical and chemical evidence of the 1850 Ma Sudbury
impact event in the Baraga Group, Michigan, Geology.
vol. 35, no. 9, pp. 827-830.

http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/35/9/827

http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/hiatt/Research/Early_ocean/Pufahl_Ejecta_9_07.pdf

http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/hiatt/Research/Early_oceans.html

Source: Paul H., USA

meteor/Meteorite News- 21OCT09

Телефон, изработен от метеорит

HiComm - София,Bulgaria
Луксозен мобилен телефон, при изработката на който е използван материал от паднал на Земята метеорит, пусна компанията Mobiado. Моделът се нарича Grand 350 ...

In the Tent: Morning shower

Aspen Times
(I learned only later of the ongoing Orionid Meteor Shower, which is expected to peak early this morning — so take a look if you're up early. ...

Nunavut a haven for geology

Northern News Services (subscription)
Nunavut is also a good place for locating meteorites, Beauregard said. "There has even been a meteorite or two," he said. Photos of a possible meteorite ...

UFO crash in Russia last week

Allnewsweb.com
A meteor? Or perhaps a rocket? The local Chairman of the local civil protection office, Anotoly Nyukin, insists that no rockets could have landed in the ...

Meteor/Meteorite News- METEORS FROM HALLEY'S COMET 20OCT09

METEORS FROM HALLEY'S COMET: Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet, and this is causing the annual Orionid meteor shower. If forecasters are correct, the shower will peak on Wednesday morning, Oct. 21st, with dozens of meteors per hour. The best time to look is during the dark hours before local dawn.

For the past three years, Orionid rates have been unusually high, with reports of 60 or more meteors per hour. Researchers believe this is a result of some very old and rich debris from Comet Halley drifting across Earth's orbit. Computer models of the debris suggest that it is still in the neighborhood, so the trend of "good Orionids" could continue in 2009. Visit http://spaceweather.com

for photos and updates.