[esteem_lover]

Thank you anjan for this nice piece of news.

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Even though it's mass is less, the acceleration due to gravity acting on the stone, that too with the huge distance that it travels through to approach the earth, creates a humongous momentum. This is very normal.

Would it not be because of its heat rather than force or momentum ? I doubt if it could have pierced through a concrete roof.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Would it not be because of its heat rather than force or momentum ? I doubt if it could have pierced through a concrete roof.

Probably not. I say this because although many of these rocks (if I may call them so?) burn in the outer space, but by the time they enter the Earth's atmosphere, the flame dies out, and they lose most of their heat as they come closer to the surface.

Also, there is no mention of a concrete roof. It says GI sheet..

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by kippu

what if the asteroid slightly got deviated from its present course by some freakish accident

Originally Posted by Trojan

Why do I say phew! coz - The asteroid is about 320 meters wide. "That's big enough to punch through Earth's atmosphere," devastating a region the size of, say, Texas, if it hit land, or causing widespread tsunamis if it hit ocean (from NASA website)

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Another thing is, there is nothing surprising about it that a meteorite weighing less than 100 gm pierces a hole in a GI sheet. Even though it's mass is less, the acceleration due to gravity acting on the stone, that too with the huge distance that it travels through to approach the earth, creates a humongous momentum. This is very normal.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

But an amazing incident happened when one meteorite weighing less than 100 gms pierced through a GI sheet (pictures below) and created a crater on the cement floor of a shed where fodder was kept. Another one pierced 10 cms of the ground surface and was dug out with a crowbar.

This is what happens when a meteorite tens of meters across bursts a few kms from the surface of the earth; so we can imagine what would happen if it actually hit!!

Tunguska event - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers,
Vikram

[Abhay]

Originally Posted by anuragn

I am always awestruck looking at pics of such falls & finds. Just think about it: how many orbits it would have crossed, how many planets it would have passed by, since how many years (or eons?) it would have been journeying in this universe and now its lying before are very eyes!
These truly are foreign objects.

they are so foreign or alien to us now, but to think that these meteorites and the earth (and all the matter on it) were originally part of the same nebula from which formed our solar system..so it is like a meeting of long lost friends :-)

Did not read this in local papers here, so thanks for the info OP.

@comfortablynumb, much closer to home and even this event itself is the fantastic Lonar crater!

[anjan_c2007]

Thanks Trojan for liking the thread.The April 2029 asteroid's journey should be a great celestial event.
Ragul, thanks I am a geologist.
esteem lover and swarnava.m, will add some more facts to your debate. After the meteorite pierced through the GI sheet, it created a small crater on the floor. The farmer immediately picked up the piece and said it was not at all hot.
True, these in most cases cool down while descending.The velocity and the momentum gained (acceleration due to gravity) make these objects dangerous.
Some of these disintegrate or even sometimes turn into dust during the descend.
Thanks comfortablynumb for the link.
Another fact I would like to add is that my colleagues have found a car whose windshield was damaged due to a meteorite impact, the same day (22/05/2012). They have clicked pictures and I will soon add these here.

[AltoLXI]

Reporting of asteroids missing the earth narrowly are reported. One came as close as the distance between New York and New Zealand.

Close encounter: Asteroid narrowly misses earth | Firstpost

[ariesonu]

Hi Anjan,
IMO you should start a WIKIPEDIA page on meteorite sightings/affairs in India for wider audience & knowledge.
Other bhpians like TROJAN can add contents too.

Raab rakha.

[selfdrive]

@anjan_c2007; is this meteorite shower in any way linked to the asteroid which just passed Earth recently?

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Ragul, thanks I am a geologist.
Another fact I would like to add is that my colleagues have found a car whose windshield was damaged due to a meteorite impact, the same day (22/05/2012). They have clicked pictures and I will soon add these here.

If you ever need an untrained but eager assistant, let me know!
I await pics of that car.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Whenever I drove at night, I used to be blessed with a sighting of at least 1 meteorite trail - the streak of light descending to earth. I used to be happy at this symbol of good luck for my drive ahead!
I don't know what has changed, but I have hardly seen any in the last decade!

Sir, all are booked for Hindi film shootings

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Another fact I would like to add is that my colleagues have found a car whose windshield was damaged due to a meteorite impact, the same day (22/05/2012). They have clicked pictures and I will soon add these here.

I am sure the Insurance company will not cover this one as it is an 'act of God'.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Thanks Trojan for liking the thread.The April 2029 asteroid's journey should be a great celestial event.
Ragul, thanks I am a geologist.
.

Wow, a geologist so you are up close and personal to these happenings and I sincerely thank you for sharing your knowledge and information with all of us i have always been interested and fascinated, meteorology was one of my core subjects in something which I used to do earlier. This is a great thread to compile such sightings and events, one of the places to visit on my wishlist is the Lonar lake in Buldhana, simply marvelous.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by ariesonu

Hi Anjan,
IMO you should start a WIKIPEDIA page on meteorite sightings/affairs in India for wider audience & knowledge.
Other bhpians like TROJAN can add contents too.

Raab rakha.

Thanks friend. Actually, I was quite surprised as to how fast the news has spread over the information highway through the net.Through Google search one can put this search phrase "meteorite in Katol" and so many links pop up. In fact, wikipedia has already added the information. The link is here:
Katol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by selfdrive

@anjan_c2007; is this meteorite shower in any way linked to the asteroid which just passed Earth recently?

If you ever need an untrained but eager assistant, let me know!
I await pics of that car.

Could remotely be linked to the passing asteroid. But at this moment cannot comment.The laboratory studies are progressing. It has lots and lots of fresh olivine. The outer burnt rim (a fraction of a mm thick) is quite glassy and indicates high silica content.
So humble of you to offer your assistance selfdrive.Thanks.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

I am sure the Insurance company will not cover this one as it is an 'act of God'.

Actually, in villages whenever there is a tremor and our team reaches for the macro seismic studies, the villagers whose houses may have had cracked walls say it has happened due to this very tremor and we must be compensated by the government.
The windscreen case is also nearly the same. If the guy is cunning he can put forth a claim to the government, if insurance chaps are not
forthcoming !

Originally Posted by Trojan

Wow, a geologist so you are up close and personal to these happenings and I sincerely thank you for sharing your knowledge and information with all of us i have always been interested and fascinated, meteorology was one of my core subjects in something which I used to do earlier. This is a great thread to compile such sightings and events, one of the places to visit on my wishlist is the Lonar lake in Buldhana, simply marvelous.

Thanks Trojan for the nice words.Yes do visit the Lonar lake. Its a meteorite impact crater about 1710 m in diameter. We have drilled four boreholes of about 400 - 450 meters depth but none could touch the top of the meteorite- the borehole cores bear such testimony. It means that the meteorite has gone deeper than 450 meters. The only valued evidence is the presence of tektite all over the periphery of the lake. Tektite a mineral thats formed due to shock metamorphism or such impact. No pieces or any remains of the meteorite have been found anywhere near the lake.
More on tektites here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tektite

[anjan_c2007]

The damaged windshield of the car as referred by me on post # 20 here.It had to be a poor Wagon R that took the hit!













(pictures clicked by Dr Mohd Shareef and Shri Sanjay Wankhade)

[Rehaan]

Superb thread Anjan_c2007 - thanks for the information and pics!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I don't know what has changed, but I have hardly seen any in the last decade!

I think bblost is right when he says its probably due to an increase in ambient light over the years.

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Probably not. I say this because although many of these rocks (if I may call them so?) burn in the outer space, but by the time they enter the Earth's atmosphere, the flame dies out, and they lose most of their heat as they come closer to the surface.

Do they burn in outer space? I was under the impression that they start to heat up further as they enter the earth's atmosphere - due to the friction caused by the air as they travel through it at such high speeds?

cya
R

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Do they burn in outer space? I was under the impression that they start to heat up further as they enter the earth's atmosphere - due to the friction caused by the air as they travel through it at such high speeds?

Yes yes, you are right actually. What I said initially was wrong. I tried finding out about this. What really happens is, as you said, due to extreme friction that is induced at high speed in the Earth's atmosphere, they do burn.

They burn up as they hit the thermosphere, and burn throughout the entire atmosphere, but they usually die out and disintegrate in the mesosphere (50-85 km). Hence all we receive is dust, relative to the original size of the meteor.

[alpha1]

Incidentally, do you know, that "burning" meteorites cause electromagnetic static over a very wide spectrum (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible, UV).

Of course, Frequency modulation is immune to amplitude based noise, so you won't hear it.