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Featured Monthly Articles Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team Micro Visions by John Kashuba Galactic Lore by Mike Gilmer Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black Meteorite of the Month by Michael Johnson Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Witnessed Fall: Tadjera, Algeria by Martin Horejsi Like

A June 1867 Witnessed Fall: Tadjera, Algeria

The Tadjerites: Black as Coal . Hard as Rock. Ordinary as a Chondrite.

One hundred f ort y-t hree years ago t his mont h, “A luminous body was seen t o descent t owards t he eart h, and when arrived at a cert ain height t o burst int o f ragment s.” T he report published August 5t h, 1867 cont inues, “T he f lash of light was f ollowed by rumbling noises, which ended in t hree loud report s, and were at t ended by a f all of aerolit es.” T he f all, having landed on t he Plain of Tadjera, Amer Guebala, near Set if , Algeria, was t heref ore named Tadjera. Algeria is a large place. Covering a port ion of t he globe roughly t hree and a half t imes t he size of Texas, Algeria claims only seven met eorit es whose f alls were wit nessed. Int erest ingly, f our of t he

seven f alls occurred during t he 25 year period bet ween 1865 and 1890 wit h t wo more f alls in t he 1940s, and t he most recent landing in 1989. In specif ic, t he Tadjera met eorit e f ell at about 10:30 P.M. on June 9, 1867 about 15 kilomet ers sout heast of t he t own of Set if in east ern Algeria. Two st ones f rom t he Tadjera f all were recovered, t ot aling about 8 kilograms. Most of t he mat erial went t o t he Museum Nat ional d’Hist oire Nat urelle in Paris because Algeria was under t he rule of France at t hat t ime, but , according t o t he lat e Brian Mason, “t he met eorit e is represent ed by small pieces in a number of collect ions.” I am honored t hat one of t hose collect ions is mine.

Just a whole lot of not hing? If black is t he absence of color, t hen Tadjera is almost a negat ive met eorit e. Even in t his color invert ed image, not much happening. No wonder Meunier considered Tadjera f or a new class of met eorit e. For a hot desert f all, Tadjera sure got around quickly. T he f amous met eorit e scient ist GabrielAugust e Daubrée (1814–1896) examined Tadjera in 1868. And t hree years lat er St anislas Meunier used t he chemical analysis t ools of his day and assigned t he Tadjera t o a dist inct t ype of chondrit e t hat he named t he “Tadjerite.” Alt hough chemical t est s were done, t he “classif icat ion” of Tadjerit e was due most ly t he physical charact erist ics of light ref lect ance (low) and t he degree t o which Tadjera resist s breakage (high).

A pot calling the kettle black? Covering a black met eorit e wit h black crust hardly jolt s t he excit e-Omet er, but it is an int erest ing sit uat ion when you cannot see a clean dividing line bet ween crust and mat rix. Of t en, t he deep cont rast bet ween t he ext erior and int erior of a suspect ed met eorit e is considered an import ant indicat ion of aut hent icit y. However, in t his case t he crust is almost indist inguishable f rom t he mat rix. So specif ically, according t o Meunier, Tadjerit es are ident if ied by t heir black color and t heir hardness. T he Tadjerit e class had only one member unt il t he Farmingt on met eorit e f ell in Kansas in 1890. However, t he chemical connect ion bet ween t he t wo would have t o wait anot her t hree quart ers of a cent ury. And when t hat analysis was done, yet a t hird met eorit e joined t he Tadjerit e clique, and t hat was Bat h, Sout h Dakot a, a 1892 f all. Int erest ingly, when t he lat e Dr. Mason was st udying Bat h in 1966, it piqued his int erest and he went back t o t he lab t o st udy Tadjera since t he init ial analysis of t he st one was somewhat primit ive given t he st andards of t he day.

Two Tadjerites: Tadjera on t he lef t and Farmingt on on t he right .

I have t o agree t hat t here are many visual similarit ies. Bot h are f resh wit nessed f alls of L5 chondrit es, but a t ipping point was reached when enough similar chondrit es ent ered our collect ions t o show us t hat in essence, t he “Tadjerit es” are just one end of t he cont inuum of chondrit e appearances. According t o Mason, “T he black color, t he highly indurat ed condit ion, t he disseminat ed t roilit e, and t he disordered pyroxene all suggest t hat t he Tadjera met eorit e was subject ed t o int ense shock some t ime during it s ext rat errest rial hist ory.” T his is all very int erest ing given t hat Farmingt on has at t ract ed at t ent ion because of it s short cosmic-ray exposure and a prime suspect in a gang-relat ed drive-by shoot ing on t he Moon in June of 1975. Oberst (1989), suspect ing t hat Farmingt on “may have been a member of a large met eoroid swarm which was det ect ed by t he Apollo seismic net work” described t he circumst ant ial evidence in t he case as, “T he associat ion implies t hat t he parent body of t he Farmingt on met eorit e was in an Eart h-crossing orbit at t he t ime t he swarm was f ormed. T his support s t he idea t hat at least some met eorit es are derived f rom t he observable populat ion of Eart h-crossing ast eroids.” T he t hree f all dat es of pot ent ial Tadjerit es, 1867, 1890 and 1892 are an curious clust er. Given t he proximit y in t ime and space of t he Tadjera, Farmingt on, and Bat h f alls as well as t heir similar chemical t at t oos and ot her gang colors, it is likely t hat t hey shared t he same ‘hood’ prior t o t agging t he Moon.

A rich collect ion hist ory is always a bonus. In t he case of t his part icular specimen of Tadjera, it ent ered t he Schwade Collect ion 23 years ago being purchased f rom David New in January of 1987. T he paint ed specimen number, S253, is f rom t he James Schwade Collect ion. T he number 253 likely represent s t he t wo-hundred f if t y t hird met eorit e in Dr. Schwadeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collect ion. So it is easy t o see t hat he was well on his way t o building a world-class collect ion long bef ore t he explosion popularit y of met eorit e collect ing in t he mid t o lat e 1990s. Tadjera is one of t hose specimens t hat ent ered my collect ion more t hrough convenience t han desire. Yes, I did choose t he specimen f rom a list , and yes, it was because of t he hist oric f all dat e and low T KW of t his f all, and yes, t he f act t hat t he name Tadjera was one I had not come across bef ore (which is always excit ing), but t he coincidence t hat I acquired it just as t he prolif erat ion of hot desert mat erial was at a crescendo and t hat t his st one claimed Algeria as home did give me pause. However, in hindsight I have grown comf ort able wit h t he knowledge t hat I can love a hot desert chondrit e as much as anyone else. It â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just t hat my love is f or is a 143 year-old hot desert wit nessed f all t hat f or a brief t ime, was it s very own met eorit e class..

Unt il next t imeâ&#x20AC;Ś. T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Collecting Broadening the Experience by Jim Tobin Like

I ment ioned recent ly t hat my collect ing habit s have changed t oward f alls. Well, I was adding a couple of new specimens t o my dat abase and decided t o see how many f alls I act ually had. Boy was I surprised when I f ound t hat I had jumped all t he way t o nearly 30% f alls in my collect ion. It has not been t hat long ago t hat I was probably near 10-15%. I do like t he st ories and added inf ormat ion t hat accompanies f alls. It really brings me closer t o t he event . Now wit h all t he modern t echnology involved t hat closeness is likely t o just increase f or t he next generat ion of collect ors. It is becoming common place t o include along wit h t he newspaper report s t he doppler radar dat a and video of t he f all as part of t he specimenâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s presence in collect ions. Many specimens now come wit h gps inf ormat ion on where it was exact ly f ound in t he st rewn f ield. I love t hat . It is like a t ime warp f or me. Inst ead of recording gps when I f ind a specimen af t er t housands of years of t errest rial hiding I get gps on a space rock only days af t er landing. Knowing who f ound it and exact ly where is anot her way I get more connect ed t o t he whole experience. But , I t hink it is pret t y unlikely t hat I am going t o begin collect ing just f alls. I am mot ivat ed by t oo many inf luences in collect ing t o limit myself t o only f alls. I am amazed at t imes by t he weirdness of some of t he reasons I buy met eorit es. One of t he last I got was solely because of where it was f ound. If you st art ed out as an archeologist like I did wit h a f ascinat ion f or ancient Egypt also. T hen you have t o have a met eorit e f rom Luxor. So when Isna come up f or sell recent ly I zipped of f a message t hat I was int erest ed and added it t o t he collect ion. I was int rigued by t he phot o on t he int ernet and act ually surprised t hat of t he several pieces of f ered t hat it was one of t he couple remaining. T here was a very nice crisp chondrule showing in t he phot o and it was one of t he larger pieces. So at least one individual had passed t his specimen by t o get t he ot her t hey want ed. I would love t o know what mot ivat ed t heir select ion.

Isna Find 1970 Chondrit e Carbonaceous On t he Nile River near Luxor Tot al Known Weight 23 kg I have lat ely been t hinking about some gaps t hat I have in my collect ion. I never began wit h t he int ent of having a t ype collect ion. I have f riends who were only int erest ed in get t ing one of every classif icat ion. Since it was not my goal even af t er 40 years t here are a f ew classif icat ions I have never got t en around t o. Luckily, wit h all t he NWA mat erial some of t hese were f ound t oo. So I t hink just t o f ill t he gaps I will be looking f or t his handf ul of rare classif icat ions soon. Paul and I had sort of hoped t o get out f or a short vacat ion in t he next mont h or so. But , it is looking more and more like t hat will not happen unt il lat er in t he year. Too bad. I have plent y of met eorit e st uf f t o do t hough. I will st ay busy and happy wit h cut t ing and phot ography and organizing. I really do need t o go hunt ing and spend some t ime wit h my t elescope again. It has act ually been years since I had my scope out t o t he desert . We seem t o always use Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. I t hink Calif ornia is due f or a big met eorit e event . A great f all t hat will be reason enough t o t ake some vacat ion t ime t o go hunt ing close t o home. It never hurt s t o dream. A f all in my very own t own would be wonderf ul. I could rent out rooms t o hunt ers wit h meals and beer included and t ake payment in met eorit es. Sorry about t hat . . .just joking. Going t o go out t o my garage in a minut e and change t he blade on my saw so I can do some

cut t ing. I t hink t he current blade has been on t here f or about a year. It is not dead yet but I want t o do quit e a bit of work and would rat her do it in t he least amount of t ime. So a new sharp blade is t he way t o go. I am up scaling up paper making t o a larger size sheet . I have been making my met eorit e colored paper in a 9 inch x 12 inch sheet . But , I am going up t o a 14 x 20 or maybe even larger size. T hat will let me do a much great er number of print ed and unprint ed art project s. I have plent y of met eorit e powder t o use as a coloring agent and I am making more all t he t ime. I am also making some paper wit hout met eorit e dust added. T his I am using as backing paper f or phot ograph mount ing. I have more f un making paper t han almost anyt hing else I have done lat ely. It t akes less t ime t hen my t ekt it e leaded glass art or writ ing books. And t he specialt y paper has really added t hat lit t le somet hing ext ra t o my collect ion specimen cards. It runs t hrough my home inkjet print er t hree specimen cards per st rip wit h no t rouble. I just cut t hem out wit h my old darkroom paper cut t er. Some sheet s have small st ains where t iny bit s of met eorit e iron have rust ed . Really neat st uf f . Well, unt il next mont h have f un wit h your met eorit es, and t ry t hinking out side t he box about ot her ways t hat you can enhance t he overall experience you have wit h t hese unique t reasures f rom space. Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Like

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This Monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Meteorite Market Trends

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Images of my Wisconsin Trip to Hunt for Meteorites by Robert Verish Like

Search f or Chondrites – f rom the April 14 th f ireball and f all of meteorites in Grant and Iowa County in Wisconsin.

Holding my “Wisconsin” f ind f or the f irst time. View is of the f ind location looking in the direction of the property owners f arm, which is also looking “up the trend” of the strewn f ield. Well, t he t it le says it all. T his mont h’s inst allment of Bob’s Findings will be just a “phot o album” of images t hat I t ook during my mid-May st ay in Wisconsin where I hunt ed f or t hose chondrit ic st ones t hat f ell f rom t he April 14t h 2010 Fireball. And as of t he writ ing of t his art icle, t he classif icat ion and t he approved name f or t his met eorit e have, yet , t o be announced by t he Nomenclat ure Commit t ee of t he Met eorit ical Societ y. [See "UPDAT E" below] T here has been a lot of speculat ion as t o what will be t he approved name f or t his met eorit e f all. If I were t o speculat e, I would say t hat t he Nomenclat ure Commit t ee may be delaying t heir announcement because t hey may be in t he middle of developing a new process or set of guidelines f or t he naming and classif icat ion of f alls. In f act , what may be percieved as a “delay” may only be t he result of some recent past f alls having been very quickly classif ied and named. Possibly, in an at t empt t o avoid any f ut ure crit icism, t he Commit t ee may be t aking a slower approach in det ermining a classif icat ion and det ermining a proper name, given t hat f alls, such as t his one, can produce st rewn f ields t hat can cover an area t hat would include several count ies, or even several st at es. T he Commit t ee may simply be wait ing t o see what will event ually be t he f ull ext ent of t his Wisconsin st rewn f ield.

[UPDATE: A name for the "Wisconsin Meteorite" has been approved by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society: Mifflin (L5 S1 W0) as per 2010-09-09 Met. Bulletin Database]

And t o t hat end, t rying t o ext end t he limit s of t his st rewn f ield, was what prompt ed me t o go t o Wisconsin. Even t hough I would arrive in Wisconsin a f ull mont h af t er t he f all, and af t er many dozens of met eorit e hunt ers had already come and gone, I was great ly encouraged by t he result s of Rob Mat son’s ongoing st udy of t he NOAA-NWS Doppler radar weat her dat a t hat t here was a very good chance t hat more met eorit es could be f ound by expanding t he search area. In f act , while I was in Wisconsin, it was announced t hat Michael Cot t ingham’s 105 gram f ind had t he ef f ect of ext ending t he known st rewn f ield 3.25 miles f art her down-t rend t o t he sout heast . Upon my arrival in Wisconsin, I f irst went t o t he area t hat is bet ween Mineral Point and Darlingt on, and immediat ely st art ed my search in an area t hat was act ually in Laf ayet t e Count y! Also during t hat f irst week, I t ried t o ext end t he NW end of t he known st rewn f ield by searching areas t hat were west of Mont f ort and had t he same Zip Code as Clif t on, WI. Af t er about a weeks t ime int o my searching, I not iced t hat t he f armers were st art ing t o cut t heir “grass” (alf alf a f ields). T his had t he ef f ect of exposing new surf aces in f ields t hat had not been hunt ed, yet . Now t he new push was t o f ind t hese f ields and get permission f rom t he f armers t o hunt on t heir propert y. While searching in t hese f ields it was educat ional t o see how labor-int ensive was t he f armers work of cut t ing and “baling hay”. Depending upon which met hod of “baling” was used, t he process could t ake over a week f or each f ield t o be cut , raked, chopped/bailed, and f ert ilized. T his could result in t he f armer having t o drive t heir t ract ors and equipment during t his “baling process” a t ot al of 3 or 4 t imes over every square met er of t heir hay f ields. Even in f ields t hat weren’t get t ing plowed, t he chance t hat a met eorit e st one would get driven-over and pushed int o t he ground was very high.

T his st yle of making bales of hay result s in t oo much wast e and t he alf alf a leaf lit t er ends up covering t oo much of t he ground. It was easier searching t he ground right af t er t he grass was cut and put int o narrow rows, but bef ore it was allowed t o dry, prior t o being rolled int o t hese bales. Of course, t hese rows of cut grass would cover a port ion of t he f ield, but a good 2/3rd could st ill be ef f ect ively searched.

Anot her f arm cut t ing anot her f ield of â&#x20AC;&#x153;grassâ&#x20AC;?. T his cut grass was made int o rect angular bales. T his met hod of baling grass leaves lit t le lit t er behind on t he ground, ef f ect ively leaving t he ground more bare and easier t o search.

T he Linden Post Of f ice. T his one is locat ed closest t o t he main mass (as of t his writ ing).

T he Livingst on Post Of f ice. T his one is locat ed closest t o t he locat ion where t he f irst st one f rom t his f all was recovered.

T here is no post of f ice in t he t own of Mif f lin, but t his village is locat ed closest t o t he middle of t he st rewn f ield (as of t his writ ing). [T he NomCom opt ed t o name t his met eorit e f all af t er t his village.]

T he nort hwest end of t he st rewn f ield is close t o t he t own of Mont f ort .

Less t han an hour bef ore I made my f ind, I t ook t hese t wo images (of what I calculat ed t o be) on t he t rend line, wit h t his image being a view up-t rend in t he st rewn f ield, and t he next image being a view down-t rend. Now, compare t his image wit h my in-sit u image at t he beginning of t his art icle. And now, compare t he next t wo imagesâ&#x20AC;Ś

And t his is a view in t he opposit e direct ion, down t he t rend line. Now, compare t his image wit h my in-sit u image below.

An in-sit u image of my met eorit e f ind, looking down t he t rend line. It appears t hat t his f ind was made right on t he t rend line. Apparent ly my t rend-calculat ions were accurat e.

T his image is act ually an in-sit u image of my f ind. I t ook t his image while t he met eorit e lies st ill unt ouched on t he ground. T his shot was t aken at t he very same spot where I f irst spied t he met eorit e. T he purpose of t his is t o show exact ly what I saw – t he exact angle of light ing, t he amount of veget at ion on t he ground, t he color and shading of t he st one, and t he dist ance I was f rom t he st one at t he t ime t he f ind was made. Don’t be disappoint ed if you can’t spot t he met eorit e f rom t his dist ance. Get a lit t le closer by going t o t he next image.

Now t hat we are closer t o t he st one, it is a lit t le more visible. But I have t o conf ess t hat even at t his dist ance I st ill hadn’t posit ively ident if ied what I had f ound. T he reason being, is t hat just prior t o seeing t his “object ” I had just picked-up f rom t he ground a piece of black t ire-t read. It wasn’t complet ely black, because it had some soil caked on it when it was recent ly run-over by t he t ract or t hat was cut t ing t he grass. Because of it s size and shape (and because t here were ot her pieces lying about ), I could t ell it was a piece of t ire-t read even bef ore I picked it up. I picked it up because I want ed t o use it as a marker at t he end of t he row t o denot e t his row as one t hat had already been searched. In f act , I was st ill holding t his piece of t read when I spot t ed t he object (met eorit e) in t his image.

Yet , st ill closer! Even at t his dist ance, I was t elling myself , “Don’t get excit ed. It ’s just anot her piece of rubber. It ’s just anot her heart -breaker!” which is what we call a small piece of rubber t hat looks great at f irst , unt il t he magnet st ick bounces of f of it , and again our heart is broken. Besides, it should be a dark, f lat -black color and not t his dingy gray. But t hen I st art ed t o t ake not ice of it s shape, even t hough it was obscured by several blades of grass.

Af t er I held-down t he blades of grass wit h my hand, I f inally realized t hat what I was looking at all t his t ime was an act ual met eorit e. But I was very puzzled by why it wasn’t more black and why it was covered wit h mud-spot s and wat er-marks. So, I didn’t st art celebrat ing, just yet , and inst ead, got up and walked around so t hat t he sunlight would be coming over my shoulder, got back down on my knees and examined it wit h a hand-lens – wit hout picking it up (see next image).

And t his is what I saw. Conf irmed! It is a met eorit e. And clearly, it could be seen t hat t his st one had been driven-over by a t ract or (at least once)! Which might explain t he camouf laged pat t ern of marks and mud-spot s. T he t ire-t rack could st ill be easily seen in t he pushed-down grass, where it t raveled right over t his st one. But whet her t his act ion pushed t he st one down int o t he mud, or whet her t he st one st uck int o t he soil on impact , is st ill a mat t er of opinion. But t here def init ely was a subsequent act ion, because t he st one was f ound part ly pulled-out of t he ground and pushed-over ont o it s side. T he depression t hat was made in t he once wet soil st ill could be clearly seen, now t hat t he st one was hinged back over ont o it s side.

In t his image I’ve rot at ed t he f ind ~90 degrees in order t o show t he bot t om-side (“B”-side) of t he met eorit e. T his view shows a broken surf ace t hat clearly displays t he brecciat ed f abric of t his chondrit e. Also visible direct ly below t he met eorit e, is t he depression in t he ground, probably made

when t he t ract or ran over t his st one! Because I was pre-occupied wit h wondering why t he ext erior was so dingy-looking, as well as wondering how many t imes it was driven-over, and where were t he ot her pieces t o t his f ragment , I never really, properly celebrat ed t he f act t hat af t er all of t his t ime searching I f inally f ound one! I f ound a “Wisconsin Fall” met eorit e! I had been hunt ing f or more t han t wo weeks, and on t he last day bef ore I was t o depart f or home, I f inally f ound one. T hen a t hought came t o me. I remembered t hat a week earlier (and more t han a week int o my search ef f ort ), while walking all day down one corn row af t er anot her, I f ant asized what I would do if I were t o event ually f ind a Wisconsin met eorit e. I imagined myself whooping it up so loud t hat every f armer and cow in t he t ownship would have t o look in t he direct ion of my boist erous celebrat ion t o wonder what happened. But now a week lat er, t here I st ood, emot ionless, and looking down at my f ind and t hinking t o myself , “T hat wasn’t so hard. Why did it t ake me so long?” In ret rospect , I suppose t hat I would have been more jubulient if making t his f ind would have result ed in ext ending t he st rewn f ield or result ed in opening-up a new clust er of f inds. But when I looked around, I could see t hat my f ind wasn’t very f ar f rom where ot her earlier f inds had been made, as well as, my f ind was right on t he consensus t rend-line and right in t he middle of t he st rewn f ield. So, I guess t hat ’s t he reason I act ed unemot ional; I guess I save my celebrat ions f or my “cold f inds”. St ill, I f elt deservedly sat isf ied wit h my f ind. And since t hen, I know t hat very f ew [Mif f lin] Wisconsin met eorit e f inds have been made. And wit h t ime, t here will be even f ewer f ound.

Greg St anley and I present ing t he f ind t o t he landowner. Farmer Randy was very pleased t hat I had made a f ind on his propert y and t hanked me f or coming back t o show him t he met eorit e. He ment ioned in passing t hat not all of t he prior met eorit e hunt ers had come back t o show him t he met eorit es t hat t hey had f ound on his propert y. T hat put me in an uncomf ort able posit ion, but he quickly changed t he subject by asking me if I would be int erest ed in buying his half of t he f ind. I quickly said, “Yes!”

Farmer Wade point s t o where he f ound his met eorit e af t er he heard it hit his “shed”. Anot her f armer t hat I met t hat af t ernoon was Farmer Wade. T his is t he gent leman t hat is document ed as having wit nessed t he f all and heard st ones f alling and hit t ing his “shed”. It was t he serendipit ous meet ing of Wade and met eorit e hunt er Terry Boudreaux t hat “st art ed t he ball rolling” in what would become a hist oric and massive recovery ef f ort of t he [Mif f lin] Wisconsin met eorit e f all. Greg and I had a great t ime sharing a beer wit h Wade as he recount ed his st ory about t he met eorit e f all and recovery on his propert y.

End of t he day “t ailgat e part y”! Af t er t he sun had set , Farmer Wade and Greg and I went over t o a neighboring f arm where Dana and Keit h Jenkerson were st aying so t hat we could see t he f ind t hat Keit h had made earlier t hat same day. Wade had brought along some cans of beer, and we proceded t o have an imprompt u “t ailgat e part y”, where we showed each ot her t he met eorit es t hat we had f ound. And t his is how we spent our last night in Wisconsin. T he next day, Greg and I would ret urn home t o Sout hern Calif ornia. I would like t o conclude t his art icle by “reprint ing” my earlier “Trip Report ”. What f ollows is f rom t he Archives of t he Met eorit e-List and is a reprint of my post report ing on my May 2010 t rip t o Wisconsin: "Wisconsin Met eorit e Trip Report " Hello List ,

T his post report s on my Wisconsin Met eorit e search ef f ort s f rom earlier t his mont h. T he f ocus of t his ef f ort was an at t empt t o ext end t he “known” st rewn f ield in bot h direct ions – east and west , using images of NOAA-NWS Doppler radar weat her dat a t hat were generat ed by Rob Mat son. Some of t hese images can be viewed on my webpage, here: ht t p://met eorit e-recovery.t ripod.com/2010/may10.ht m My May 2010 Art icle. T hese same images and dat a were supplied by Rob t o Sonny Clary, as well, and as it t urns out , even t hough we were hunt ing independent ly, we were conduct ing our searches at t he same t ime and in t he same general area, but on neighboring f arms. Sonny ret urned home bef ore I depart ed t he st rewn f ield and has already post ed his very well-writ t en “t rip report ”. Since many of my observat ions only serve t o corroborat e what Sonny has already report ed, my report will be short er. So f or ref erence, here is a link t o Sonny’s previous “t rip report ”: ht t p://six.pairlist .net /pipermail/met eorit e-list /2010-May/064913.ht ml Sonny Clary’s Trip Report post t o t he Met -List . St art ed my search in Laf ayet t e Count y in a t ownship known as Willow Springs by cont act ing eyewit nesses and f armers in order t o obt ain permission t o walk t heir propert y. T his part of my job was made easier (inadvert ent ly) by Sonny, who preceded me by a day and had already explained t o t he propert y owners our mission. Cont inued t o cross pat hs wit h Sonny unt il we accident ally met near t he court house in Darlingt on. We t alked brief ly, exchanging f ield not es and discussing hunt ing st rat egy. I had no Wisconsin f inds t o show him, but I did get t o closely examine Brix’s f ind f rom his earlier t rip. All t hat I had t o show f or my ef f ort s, up t o t his point , was a sack-f ull of morels: ht t p://met eorit e-recovery.t ripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01268morrel.jpg Morchella esculent a – Common Yellow Morel It was at t his point t hat I decided it was t ime t o pay a visit t o t he ot her end of t he st rewn f ield. I at t empt ed t o ext end t he “known” st rewn f ield (at t hat t ime) t o t he west of Highway 80 in an area known as t he “Amish Farm”. T hese f olk were quit e f riendly and very inquisit ive about met eorit es and met eors, as were all of t he ot her f armers t hat I met . T hey helped me get in cont act wit h t he neighboring f armers. One f arm had a part icularly st rong Doppler radar ref lect ion cent ered over it in a sat ellit e image. Alt hough I hiked a lot of t his area, t here were many f ields t hat were t oo lush wit h veget at ion or were recent ly plant ed. Encouraged by t he announcement of t he locat ion f or Michael Cot t ingham’s 105 gram f ind, I now f ocused my search in areas t o t he east of Hwy 151, and wit h t he hope t hat t here would be a cont inued repeat in t he pat t ern t hat I not iced in t he clust ers of f inds f rom “up t rend” in t he st rewn f ield. So, I select ed areas t o search t hat were 3 miles f art her down t he t rend of t he f light pat h, and t hat were locat ed under st rong Doppler radar ref lect ions as depict ed in Rob Mat son’s sat ellit e images. In t his area, t here were f ields of alf alf a, grass, and rye st art ing t o get cut , and I f elt encouraged t hat , if given more t ime, a met eorit e f ind could have been event ually made. But on t his leg of my t rip, I again made no f inds and I f ailed t o ext end t he st rewn f ield. Now, I had t o ret urn t o t he airport at Madison t o pick-up my met -hunt ing part ner, Greg St anley. So, t he next morning wit h a f resh pair of eyes and legs we st art ed our search anew. Greg’s plan was t o st art in t he middle of t he st rewn f ield and work out wards. Prior t o Greg’s arrival, I had already select ed f arms t hat were in t he process of cut t ing-chopping-bailing grass and obt ained prior-approval t o hunt t hose f ields f rom t he f armers. Long-st ory-short , I f inally made a f ind! It is a 31 gram f ragment wit h 3 sides of f usion-crust , 2 sides of f resh-broken surf ace, and 1 side t hat has f aint evidence of a short -durat ion, secondary f -c melt ing event . It was f ound in a f reshly cut hay f ield right in t he middle of t he st rewn f ield and right on t he generally-accept ed t rend line. And, of course, I wait ed unt il my last day (bef ore Greg and I were t o depart f or home) t o make our one and only f ind f rom t his f all. My t rack-record f or being a f irst -rat e procrast inat or remains unblemished. ht t p://met eorit e-recovery.t ripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01425f ind-b.jpg

My f ind was driven-over by t ract ors at least once, probably t wice!

Bef ore depart ing, I invit ed Keit h Jenkerson (who, along wit h Dana, were st aying at a neighboring f arm) t o use his met al-det ect or and t ry his luck at f inding t he missing pieces t o my f ragment at t he f ind locat ion. He was unable t o det ect any of t he missing pieces, but f or his ef f ort he was rewarded – he made his 2nd WI f ind [~15g] while walking back t o meet Dana. ht t p://met eorit e-recovery.t ripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01453jenkerson2.jpg Keit h Jenkerson 2nd WI f ind. Lat er t hat last night , Greg and I gave f armer Wade a ride back t o his f arm and shared some beers wit h him at his “ground zero” shed. T hen we all went over t o t he neighboring f arm where Keit h and Dana were st aying, where we celebrat ed our good luck t hat day, and celebrat ed our good luck at making f riends wit h such great people and in being able t o share wit h t hem t heir new st rewn f ield. Depart ure t he next day was bit t ersweet . It would be good t o get back home. But it seemed like such a wast e t o leave, part icularly af t er obt aining all t hat hard-learned expert ise, and af t er meet ing all t hose f armers, and making new f riends, and especially while t here were new hay f ields being cut ! It won’t t ake very long f or all t hat veget at ion t o grow back. T he crops will quickly grow t o mat urit y, and all t he while t he f armers will be cont inually busy driving t heir t ract ors in t hose f ields. On Wisconsin! Bob V.

Wisconsin Hunt – May 2010 – Here is a link to my other images from this trip! Ref erences: Bob’s Findings: May 2010 Art icle – in Met eorit e-Times.Com “What Made t he Recovery of Met eorit es f rom t he 4/14/2010 Fall in Wisconsin such a Rapid and Timely Success? ” – I f eel t hat it was t he high-qualit y of t he NWS Doppler-radar wit h it s very dist inct ive t race of t he f ireball (which was readily available t o t he general public) t hat was t he impet us t o get t ing t he met eorit e hunt ers so quickly int o t he [st rewn] f ield. Discover Magazine: Huge f ireball over Wisconsin! | Bad Ast ronomy | – Apr 14, 2010 … Rob Mat son Says: April 16t h, 2010 at 12:25 am … T he st ory doesn’t say where t he f ind was made, but my educat ed guess (based on Doppler radar imagery) is t hat it was recovered … Shawn Alan: Met eorit e Fall Wisconsin – in Met eorit esRock.com T he int erest ing f act s, video news report s, newspaper et c. Bob’s Findings: March 2009 Art icle – in Met eorit e-Times.Com – “What Made t he Recovery of Met eorit es at West , T X such a Success?” – Comparison of some recent bolide event s. NEXRAD: Next -Generat ion Radar – in Wikipedia is a net work of 159 high-resolut ion Doppler weat her radars operat ed by t he Nat ional Weat her Service, an agency of t he Nat ional Oceanic and At mospheric Administ rat ion (NOAA) wit hin t he Unit ed St at es Depart ment of Commerce.

FBWG: Fireball Working Group – T he purpose of t his group is t o exchange dat a regarding f ireball event s and t o provide a venue f or expert s and novices t o assist f ield invest igat ors in collect ing and analyzing report s f rom what ever t radit ional or non-t radit ional sources t here maybe. Google Search Result s f or: Mif f lin Wisconsin Met eorit e Fall – Wisconsin News Midwest met eor named Mif f lin af t er Wis. t ownship…

Photo Album of My Trip to Wisconsin:

An early morning f light out of San Diego t o Wisconsin had a f light pat h over Needles, CA and Laughlin, NV. In t he early morning sunlight Ivanpah Dry Lake is barely visible.

A lit t le lat er t he f light pat h went over Kingman, AZ. In t he dist ance can be seen Red (Dry) Lake.

T he Grand Canyon in early morning sunlight .

Mineral Point , WI in t he early evening rain.

Laf ayet t e Count y, Wisconsin in t he early morning rain.

Fungus growing on a t ree in Laf ayet t e Count y, Wisconsin.

A “blonde” morel growing under t hat same t ree in Laf ayet t e Count y, Wisconsin.

Morchella esculent a – Common Yellow Morel (but a very large one).

T he “Wind Farm” near Mont f ort in Iowa Count y, Wisconsin.

Lush growt h in a corn-st ubble f ield in Grant Count y, Wisconsin.

A mushroom growing on corn-st ubble on a f arm in Grant Count y, Wisconsin.

Low-angle evening sunlight illuminat es a f ield on a f arm in Grant Count y, Wisconsin.

No-t ill plant ing of seeds

Perf ect daylight t o search a past ure on a f arm near Linden in Iowa Count y, Wisconsin.

T he f armerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dog accompanied me t he ent ire day as I hiked all of t he past eur lands. Unf ort unat ely, t he dog wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t point ing at a met eorit e.

A must st op f or cust ard in Dodgeville, WI.

T his small cheese company in Linden, WI makes a lot of cheese f or t he Olive Garden Rest aurant .

T he Happy Hour Bar & Grill has great midday sandwiches.

T his was a f avorit e luncht ime gat hering spot f or met eorit e hunt ers in Livingst on, WI.

Check-out t he check-out -count er at t he Livingst on Mobil gas st at ion.

Anybody know what was t he winning slogan?

Main St reet in Livingst on, Wisconsin.

Road sign just east of Livingst on on Rt . X?

T his is how “rye grass” is grown and cut in Iowa Count y, WI. T his f ield may look easy t o hunt , but t he st ubble is t oo t all and it hides small object s very well. Trust me.

Greg St anley, at t he end of a very long day of met eorit e hunt ing.

Greg’s t urn t o t ake my pict ure.

Dana and Keit h Jenkerson, just bef ore Keit h f ound his 2nd st one.

Keit hâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2nd f ind.

Met eorit e [was] On Display at t he Popcorn Fact ory in Mont f ort , WI.

Temporay Display at t he Popcorn Fact ory.

Nice f ind f or a 5 year old!

Sunset brings a great end t o a wonderf ul t rip. My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*

For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine IMCA Insights – June 2010 by IMCA TEAM Like

IMCA Insights – June 2010 A Meteorite Homecoming by Martin Gof f T he st ory of t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e and t he role it occupies in t he hist ory of met eorit ics cannot be overest imat ed. T his hist oric met eorit e was one of a f ew f amous f alls on a t imeline f rom Barbot an in 1790 culminat ing in L’Aigle in 1803 t hat led t o t he general accept ance t hat st ones do indeed f all f rom t he sky and not only t hat , but t hat t hey come f rom space. Bef ore moving on t o t he recent “met eorit e homecoming” concerning t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e I t hought t hat I would ref resh people’s memory on t his hist oric f all.

Monument marking t he exact locat ion of t he Wold Cot t age f all wit h T he Wold Cot t age visible in t he middle right . Phot o by Mart in Gof f . On 13 December 1795, a 25 kg st one f ell in a f ield by t he Wold Cot t age in t he village of Wold Newt on, East Yorkshire. It was a mild and overcast Sunday when, at about 3:00 in t he af t ernoon, several people in t he area heard somet hing whizz t hrough t he air f ollowed by a series of explosions described as like gunf ire at sea (Marvin 1996). A sevent een-year-old ploughman called John Shipley saw a black st one emerge f rom t he clouds and f all t o t he ground about 30 f eet f rom where he was st anding. He rushed t o t he spot and f ound a large st one t hat lay in a pit in t he soil and had impact ed int o t he underlying limest one. He described it as warm and smoking and smelling of sulphur. He was assist ed by t wo ot her workers in ext ract ing t he st one f rom t he impact pit (Burke 1986). Major Edward Topham owned t he Wold Cot t age and t he land surrounding it and was also t he employer of John Shipley. Topham was not act ually present when t he met eorit e f ell as he was away in London. He ret urned home soon af t er t he event and wrot e a let t er det ailing t he f all and account s t aken f rom his workers t o a Mr. James Boaden, managing edit or of t he Oracle newspaper in London. T his let t er was published in t he 12 February edit ion of t he paper. Topham was also a local Magist rat e, and in t his role he obt ained sworn st at ement s f rom t he t hree eyewit nesses and int erviewed numerous ot her persons who had heard sounds in t he area at t he t ime. Topham wrot e:

“All t hese wit nesses who saw it f all, agree perf ect ly in t heir account of t he manner of it s f all, and t hat t hey saw a dark body passing t hrough t he air, and ult imat ely st rike t he ground: and t hough, f rom t heir sit uat ions and charact ers in lif e, t hey could have no possible object in det ailing a f alse account of t his t ransact ion, I f elt so compelled t o give t his mat t er every degree of aut hent icit y t hat , as a magist rat e, I t ook t heir account upon oat h immediat ely on my ret urn int o t he count ry. I saw no reason t o doubt any of t heir evidence af t er t he most minut e invest igat ion of it .” Topham lat er arranged t o exhibit t he st one in Piccadilly, London, across f rom t he well-known Gloucest er Cof f ee House. Anyone who was prepared t o pay t he ent rance f ee of 1 shilling was able t o see t he st one it self and also t he original t est imonies of Topham and his workers. T hey also received a leaf let as part of t he ent ry f ee wit h an engraving of t he st one and a writ t en account of t he st ory (Pillinger and Pillinger 1996). Someone who def init ely paid t heir 1 shilling was an Edward King, Fellow of t he Royal Societ y and one t ime President of t he Ant iquarian Societ y. King published a paper whereby he made comparisons bet ween t he Siena st one and t hat of t he Wold Cot t age st one, not ing similarit ies in subst ance and of t he met allic grains. King has not been widely acknowledged wit h making t hese observat ions which were made prior t o Edward Howard’s lat er chemical analyses (Pillinger and Pillinger 1996).

Mart in Gof f present ing t he f ramed specimen of Wold Cot t age t o Derek Gray wit h t he monument in t he background. Phot o court esy of Simon Kench (PPA Lt d). It was also while t he met eorit e was being exhibit ed in London t hat Sir Joseph Banks, President of t he Royal Societ y, saw t he st one, not iced t he similarit y t o his specimen f rom t he Siena f all, and acquired a sample. Exact ly how t his sample was obt ained by Banks we do not know, but it was possibly f rom Topham himself . T his sample of Wold Cot t age and also samples of Siena, among ot her met eorit es, f ound t heir way f rom Banks t o Edward Howard. Howard was a young, gif t ed, and open-minded Brit ish chemist . He separat ed t he samples int o magnet ic grains of met al, reddish iron sulphides, “curious globules,” and f ine-grained mat rix mat erial. When examining and comparing t hese component s, he f ound st riking similarit ies in t heir mineralogy, t ext ure, and chemical composit ion. He said, “T hese st ones, alt hough t hey have not t he smallest analogy wit h any of t he mineral subst ances already known, eit her of a volcanic or any ot her nat ure, have a very peculiar and st riking analogy wit h each ot her.” He went on t o conf irm t he presence of nickel in t he met allic grains in t he st one met eorit es and also in so called “nat ive irons” he examined (Marvin 2001). T hese st ones and irons t hat were of dif f ering t ypes, had f allen in dif f erent count ries, and at dif f erent t imes all had one t hing in common—t he presence of nickel. In 1799 Topham erect ed a brick monument on his land marking t he sit e of t he f all wit h an engraved t ablet , which reads: Here On this spot, December 13, 1795 Fell f rom the atmosphere

An extraordinary stone. In breadth twenty-eight inches In length thirty-six inches, And Whose weight was f if ty-six pounds. T his column In memory of it Was erected by Edward Topham 1799

A close up view of t he specimen donat ed by Dave Gheesling. Phot o court esy of Simon Kench (PPA Lt d). T he Wold Cot t age met eorit e event ually ended up being sold f or a nominal sum of 10 guineas t o James Sowerby in 1804. Sowerby had est ablished a museum next t o his house in London and via numerous let t ers bet ween himself and Topham acquired t he met eorit e f or display t here. Sowerby was obviously very proud of t his part icular addit ion t o his museum as it was included in t he background of a port rait of him paint ed by T homas Heaphy in 1918. T he Wold Cot t age mass was lat er purchased by t he Brit ish Museum (now t he Nat ural Hist ory Museum, NHM) in 1835 and st ill resides t here t oday. T he NHM is soon going t o be having a brand new purpose-designed met eorit e gallery and hopef ully t he Wold Cot t age main mass will have a prominent place. So t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e played a number of vit al roles in changing public and scient if ic opinion f rom t he disbelief t hat rocks f all f rom t he sky t o accept ance t hat t hey do and not only t hat , but t hey come f rom space. Number one: It was one of a number of met eorit es t hat f ell in t he years bet ween 1790 and 1803

t hat made it harder t o ignore t hat st ones did act ually f all f rom t he sky and were not t errest rial object s somehow f alling back t o Eart h. Number t wo: Chemical analyses showed t he presence of nickel which linked it t o ot her st ones and irons. T hese analyses also paved t he way f or ot her met eorit es t o be t est ed t o add t o t he growing amount of dat a on t he subject . Number t hree: Tophamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s posit ion as a Magist rat e undoubt edly enhanced t he perceived validit y of t he eyewit ness t est imonies t aken by him. His reput at ion as a seeker of t he t rut h t o t he point of obsessiveness carried a lot of weight at t he t ime wit h t he public at large (Pillinger and Pillinger 1996). T his and his not oriet y as a public f igure brought visit ors f locking t o see t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e on display. If Major Edward Topham had not been t he recipient of t he met eorit e f all on his land and had not publicized t he event as he did, t hen I doubt t hat t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e would be as import ant or as well remembered a milest one in met eorit ics as it is t oday.

T he sign of t he Falling St one pub. Phot o by Mart in Gof f . In July 2009 my f amily and I had t he pleasure of spending a week at T he Wold Cot t age. We had want ed t o have a holiday in t he area f or a while and decided t hat in summer 2009 it was about t ime we did so. As we have a young daught er, we want ed self -cat ering accommodat ion so I st art ed t he search f or cot t ages available in t he area. Being a met eorit e obsessive (according t o my wif e, but I do f ully agree!), I obviously looked at T he Wold Cot t age and f ound out t hat as well as bed and breakf ast accommodat ion t hey also of f ered t wo self -cat ering cot t ages. Well, t hat was it ! No more inf ormat ion was needed and t he holiday was booked. Af t er seeing a specimen of Wold Cot t age in my display cabinet , my wif e put t wo and t wo t oget her and realized my mot ivat ion f or picking t his part icular locat ion. Her worries about my ent husiasm f or met eorit es af f ect ing my judgement on t he qualit y of t he accommodat ion were t o be t ot ally overridden when we act ually arrived. What a f ant ast ic place. T he long driveway has lovely views over t he surrounding hills and f ields and as you round t he last bend t he red brick of t he hist oric Wold Cot t age comes int o view. T he self -cat ering cot t ages are built f rom a convert ed barn and are set slight ly away f rom t he act ual Wold Cot t age. T hey st and in t heir own enclosed garden area wit h a pat io and barbecue area f or guest sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; use. A more idyllic locat ion you would st ruggle t o f ind, made all t he bet t er f rom my point of view wit h t ant alizing glimpses of a nearby f ield where t he brick monument marking t he 1795 f all is sit uat ed. As we were shown round our cot t age by Kat rina Gray (who is t he lucky owner along wit h her husband Derek), we were met by t he smell of f reshly baked bread. T here was also a bot t le of t he locally brewed Falling St one bit t er, which I can at t est t o being delicious (I made sure t hat I brought a case home wit h me). T his beer was brewed t o commemorat e t he 1795 f all and has a phot o of t he monument t aken by Derek on t he label. T he local pub, also called T he Falling St one, is sit uat ed in t he nearby village of T hwing. T hey of course serve Falling St one bit t er here and I can also recommend t heir f ood. All in all t here was not hing t o f ault about our st ay and a great deal t o praise, wit h many lit t le t ouches t hat made all t he dif f erence. Derek and Kat rina were warm and welcoming host s, t here when needed, but lef t us t o our own devices f or t he rest of t he t ime,

which in my eyes is t he mark of a good host . When Derek and Kat rina f ound out about my int erest in met eorit es, t hey showed me some of t he Edward Topham memorabilia in t he main house and also some hist orical phot os of t he met eorit e it self t hat are on display. In 1999 t hey even had t he main mass of t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e brought back f rom t he NHM by Dr. Monica Grady t o celebrat e t he bicent enary of t he erect ion of t he monument by Major Edward Topham. T hey had t o have a police of f icer on guard dut y during it s t emporary st ay, not wit hst anding t he f act t hat Dr. Grady had carried t he met eorit e in a rucksack all t he way t hrough London by herself ! (Gray, personal communicat ion).

T he Falling St one pub. Phot o by Mart in Gof f . It was during t his t our of t he Topham memorabilia t hat I was ast ounded t o discover t hat t hey did not act ually have a specimen of t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e at all. I really was dumbf ounded as more t han anywhere else, I t hought t hat t his would be t he one place where a specimen should be on display. I promised Derek and Kat rina t hat I would keep an eye out f or t hem, but not t o get t heir hopes t oo high as specimens of Wold Cot t age rarely appear on t he market . I duly let t hem know about t he specimens on of f er in Rob Elliot t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s auct ion, but t hey were unf ort unat ely out of t heir price range. What t hey sought was a specimen of a f ew grams t hat could be f ramed and displayed along wit h t he ot her memorabilia. I subsequent ly not iced a 1.44 g f usion crust ed slice of f ered f or t rade only by Dave Gheesling on his websit e (www.f allingrocks.com). I cont act ed Dave and t old him t he st ory of Derek and Kat rina and asked whet her he would be prepared on t his occasion t o sell t he specimen rat her t han t rade it . He agreed wit h me t hat it was a t ravest y t hat t hey did not have a specimen on display and made t he very generous gest ure of of f ering it t o t hem f or not hing. All he want ed in ret urn was a phot o of Derek and Kat rina st anding next t o t he specimen on display in t heir home. Well, t o say t hat t hey were delight ed was a gross underst at ement . T his was somet hing t hat t hey had been t rying t o achieve f or years and now f inally t hey would be able t o display a piece of Wold Cot t age in t he act ual Wold Cot t age t hat gives t he met eorit e it s name.

Mart in Gof f present ing t he f ramed specimen of Wold Cot t age t o Derek and Kat rina Gray wit h Nicola Markham f rom Visit Hull and East Yorkshire. Phot o court esy of Sean Spencer (Hull news and pict ures). As I had act ed as a conduit f or t his event , I t hought t hat t he least I could do was t o get t he specimen properly f ramed along wit h a phot o of t he monument t o make a suit able display f or hanging on t he wall. During my visit in t he summer I had t aken numerous phot os, one of which I was quit e pleased wit h, t aken on a gloriously sunny day wit h T he Wold Cot t age in t he background. I decided t hat t his would look just right and set about organizing t he f raming. Due t o work commit ment s, t his t ook longer t han expect ed but once f inished I cont act ed Derek and Kat rina t o arrange t o present t he f raming t o t hem. By t his t ime t he st ory of a piece of Wold Cot t age coming home had at t ract ed quit e a bit of publicit y and I had been cont act ed by numerous report ers and been int erviewed by BBC Humberside radio. BBC Humberside had also arranged f or a live radio int erview wit h me early on t he morning when I was due t o leave f or t he present at ion. So on 16 April 2010, af t er a night of no sleep looking af t er a poorly t wo-year-old daught er, I was int erviewed live on Andy Comf ort ’s Breakf ast Show (so anyone who has list ened t o t he piece online, please f orgive any inaccuracies; I was not f eeling 100% t here). I t hen drove up t o T he Wold Cot t age f or t he present at ion and was f aced wit h quit e a f ew phot ographers and also a BBC T V and radio crew. It was quit e a media circus and Derek, Kat rina, and I were kept very busy all day—alt hough I have t o say t hat it was all good f un and I did really enjoy myself . I was happy and honored t o be able t o make t he present at ion and t o play a small part in t his st ory. It was only a shame t hat Dave could not be t here t o present t he specimen personally. Derek and Kat rina were overjoyed about everyt hing. “To have a piece of t he Wold Cot t age met eorit e back home is going t o be amazing.” T he f ramed Wold Cot t age specimen now hangs proudly in t he dining room among all t he ot her met eorit e and Topham memorabilia, a f it t ing home f or it and a t rue met eorit e homecoming!

Mart in Gof f and Derek Gray sit t ing in f ront of t he Wold Cot t age monument . Phot o court esy of Simon Kench (PPA Lt d). Mart in Gof f is 34 years old living in Lancashire, Unit ed Kingdom. He is married t o Nicky wit h a 2-1/2 year old daught er Phoebe. He works as a Crime Scene Invest igat or f or Great er Manchest er Police. He bought his f irst met eorit e (a small Campo del Cielo) in 2007 and is now a f ull-f ledged met eorit e obsessive! He is half French and aside f rom his general met eorit e collect ion has set himself t he t ask of building a sub-collect ion of every French and UK met eorit e wit h specimens of 1 gram plus. Impossible t o achieve, but great f un t rying! Ref erences: Burke, J G. 1986. Cosmic Debris—Met eorit es in Hist ory. Universit y of Calif ornia Press. Gray, D and Gray, K. 2009. Personal communicat ion. Marvin, U. B. 1996. Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756–1827) and t he origins of modern met eorit e research. Met eorit ics and Planet ary Science 31:545–588. Marvin, U. B. 2001. St ones which f ell f rom t he sky. In Met eorit es—T heir Impact on Science and Hist ory, Zanda. B and Rot aru. M. Eds. Cambridge Universit y Press pp 16–29. Pillinger, C. T. and Pillinger, J. M. 1996. T he Wold Cot t age met eorit e: Not just any ordinary chondrit e. Met eorit ics and Planet ary Science 31:589–605.

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Low Magnification by John Kashuba Like

Chuck, When you’re shopping f or a new ‘scope or looking t o upgrade t he one you have I suggest you t ry t o include glass t hat will let you t ake low magnif icat ion pict ures t oo. When I’m looking at slices or t hin sect ions I move t hem around t o get an impression of t he overall piece. You can’t share t hat impression wit h f olks wit h a single pict ure at medium magnif icat ion so a larger f ield of view is a real help. T he “regular” magnif icat ion I shoot at get s me a f ield about 3mm wide. T hat works OK f or f ine grained achondrit es or chondrit es wit h small f eat ures like CO3s. But wit h an L chondrit e or a CV3 you can easily have a single chondrule hogging t he f ield. T he t rouble is t hat low magnif icat ion lenses cost a lot . I had a workaround t hat I t hought of as my own lit t le secret ‘t il I was f ound out by Larry Chit wood. Larry, a geologist and clever guy, co-aut hored “Field Guide t o Met eors and Met eorit es” wit h Richard Nort on. I had emailed him a f ew pict ures and he called asking about one in part icular. He had opened t he pict ure wit h phot o edit ing sof t ware and f or some reason had radically jazzed up some set t ings. I don’t know what t hey were – cont rast , color sat urat ion or maybe ot hers. He spied signs of a t hree by t hree pat t ern and asked what ’s up wit h t hat ? “Did you put a bunch of pict ures t oget her t o make t his one?” Bingo. I’d been f ound out . A poor man’s low power lens is past e. Elect ronic past e of course. And wit h it you can make pict ures of chondrules as t hey sit assembled inst ead of as individuals or an overview of a Mart ian slide. Examples? Of course. John

You can see how t he bright ly colored olivines sit in t he light er f iner grained pigeonit e in t his Mart ian shergot t it e. T here’s a reason t hey call t hem megacryst s. Some of t he dark pat ches are olivine t hat is in opt ical ext inct ion and some are melt pocket s.

T his overall view of a diogenit e sample shows large grains and a cont inuum of smaller and smaller f ragment s.

It would be hard f or a close-up of t his howardit e t o show t he range of grain sizes along wit h t hose dark areas.

Howardit es are f rom t he plowed surf ace of Vest a so you expect t o see a variet y of t hings. T his sample has a small pat ch of

needlelike cryst als on a dark background midway along t he diagonal edge. T hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s t he dark clast , of course, and a couple light er ones more t oward t he right .

Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Orbigny, an angrit e, is spect acular in regular views wit h it s bright colors and skelet al cryst als. Here, at low magnif icat ion, we see t hat t hose pict ures are not just isolat ed glamour shot s. T he whole t hing sparkles. And check out t he vesicle!

Olivine grains in t he Huckit t a pallasit e are pret t y large so I had t o f it several pict ures t oget her t o get t his st ained glass view.

Ah! Back t o chondrit es. Korra Korrabes is brecciat ed but you have t o get a wide enough view t o see t he light clast , t he H3 groundmass and a couple chondrules f or scale.

Same st ory here. T his Chergach H5 t hin sect ion has â&#x20AC;&#x153;rivers of melt â&#x20AC;?. It helps t he st ory t o show bot h river banks plus chondrules on t he shore f or scale.

Chondrule low magnif icat ion library. Sarat ov L4 Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Calendar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2010 by Anne Black Like

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Meteorite-Times Magazine A 51 gram Hammer Stone by Michael Johnson Like

A 51 gram Hammer st one f rom t he t he April 14, 2010 Wisconsin f ireball. T his one st ruck t he Bailey Barn. Not e whit e paint f rom t he barn roof . Now in t he Michael Blood collect ion. ÂŠ Michael Blood T he Michael Johnson Collect ion of Aest het ic Rocks f rom Out er Space Images, t ext are Copyright ÂŠ 2010 ROCKSFROMSPACE.org No reproduct ion wit hout writ t en permission. Web design by Michael Johnson of rocksf romspace.org Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Viet Nam Indochinite Tektite by Editor Like

132 gram specimen f rom T he Darryl Fut rell Collect ion of Tekt it es Please Share and Enjoy:

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Once a few decades ago this opening was a framed window in the wall of H. H. Nininger's Home and Museum building. From this window he must have many times pondered the mysteries of Meteor Crater seen in the distance. Photo by ÂŠ 2010 James Tobin