🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <93011174@sloth.bc.ca>, chris@sloth.bc.ca (Chris Brougham) writes...
>Hi,
> 
>Thanks to those who took the time to respond to my query on the
>Planetary Society.
> 
>I recently became interested in the study of meteorites; however, I 
>found that my local library only has two texts, written in the 
>1960's, on the subject. Indeed, one proposed that tektites were from 
>the lunar surface. I would like a recommendation on an up-to-date
>text on meteorites - one that discusses SNC's and the latest theories
>on tektites etc. 
> 
>That's for my scholarly side.
> 
>For my fun side ...
> 
>Are there any good books on how to find meteorites in the "wild" as
>well as nifty collecting and trading strategies? :-) I read one review
>in S&T a while back which was panned by the reviewer, Robert Haag,
>(Meteorite and Tektite Collectors Handbook by Phillip Bagnall), maybe
>other folks have read this book and found it OK?
> 
> 
> 
> 
>---
>chris brougham
>chris@sloth.bc.ca

This is not really a text on the subject, but it might help anyway...

My high school astronomy professor would go out the next day after 
a meteor shower to frozen lakes in the area and look for meteorites
and he actually had a couple. Of course, this only works in the winter
in cold climates...

------
Tim Harincar				A skunk is better company than
soc1070@vx.cis.umn.edu			someone who prides themselves on
 					being frank. -Lazerus Long	

In article <11JAN199308420980@vx.cis.umn.edu> soc1070                          writes:
>My high school astronomy professor would go out the next day after 
>a meteor shower to frozen lakes in the area and look for meteorites
>and he actually had a couple. Of course, this only works in the winter
>in cold climates...

This is the cheap version of going to Antarctica. :-)  The advantage of
checking frozen lakes is that a rock sitting out on the ice is pretty
much guaranteed not to have gotten there by other natural means.
-- 
"God willing... we shall return."       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
       -Gene Cernan, the Moon, Dec 1972 |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry

In my opinion, the best way is to go to a museum (or private collector) with
a meteorite collection of at least a dozen differnet speciems: Old, weather-
ed fragments and fresh (fusion crust|) Individuals of Stony-, Stony-Iron and
Iron-Meteorites. Take also a close look at slices or cut speciems to learn
how these space rocks look inside.
Then go out and keep your eyes open. If you have discovered a possible
meteorite, check for fusion crust, and estimate (or, even better, measure)
it's density (But don't put it into water|||): Meteorites tend to be heavier
than terrest.rocks. You may cut off a small piece.(but be careful the that the
possible meteorite dosn't get too hot|) It should be easy to identify iron-
or stony-iron meteorites by then. In case of stones, check for metal grains
or chondrules. ALL (Stony-)Meteorites have much more iron than earth-rocks:
Somwhere between 15% and 20% (except Lunar- and SNC-Meteorites).
Check also weather a small magnet is attracted by the possible meteorite.

Then, if you think it may be a stone from outer space, bring it to a museum
or university for a careful analysis.

By the way: That sound greart, but don't expect to find a meteorite on your
next field trip. Here in Germany, Austria and Czech we have a camera-network
to photograph bright meteors at night. (Just like the one that was operating
in USA and Canada sometimes in the 1960s or so). You can calculate the impact-
site to a few km^2 from these photographs, but of dozens (possibly hundrets)

Pribram and Lost City). Last year possibly some 100kg of carb.Chondrite
dropped into a forest near Prague, but not a single fragment has been found.
You see, your chance to find a meteorite simply by chance is very remote|

I know, you WILL ask if I ever found a meteorite: Sorry, no...|
(You see, just words...)

For your educational side, try these two books (hope I remember them right):
* McSween: "Meteorites and their parent bodies"
* Wasson:  "Meteorites and their record of the early solar system"

Hope you have lots of fun with these space-rocks|
  Herbert

*Sorry*, in my text I just posted one line is missing|
Here it is:

...but from dozens (possibly hundrets) of meteors photographed, only three
meteorites (Innisfree, Pribram and Lost City) have been collected...

  Herbert