Is Your Backyard Housing Some Meteor Fragments?
Posted April 29, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Do you own a piece of the rock? No, it’s not an insurance commercial, it’s a question from a group of scientists hunting an elusive prize: bits of a meteorite that streaked over the sky in Newmarket last March 15th.
Researchers with the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Western Ontario are anxious to get their hands on the remnants, which they say can be of important scientific value.
But finding the fragments isn’t easy and that’s where local residents come in. Several cameras caught the bolt from the blue as it made a fiery entry and descent over Newmarket around 8:30pm that night. Those who’ve examined the footage are sure not all of it burned up in the atmosphere.
“The total delivered mass is probably no more than a few hundred grams and could be in one piece or many smaller fragments,” explains the University’s Dr. Phil McCausland in a statement. “Recovering a meteorite from this event would be very helpful because we can put it in a solar system context.”
How can you tell if you find one? The rocks in question will be black due to something called ” fusion crust,” a thin, glassy and possibly shiny or burnt coating caused by the sudden heating and cooling of the entry. It’s usually also magnetic so if metal sticks to it, that’s another sign you’ve found the real thing.
If you think you’ve discovered parts of this visitor from outer space and want to get them to the scientists or if you’d like to see photos of the real thing, click here.
