by Bazil_SW » Thu Nov 12, 2020 8:59 am
Hi All,
I've got an interesting event for discussion.
I live in Birmingham, UK. On the evening of 17th July, a fast moving fireball object (assumed meteor) broke apart mid-air showering low density porous brown/red fragments on our drive and garden. We heard it happen and our CCTV caught the event directly, and another from up the road caught the fireball streaking in the sky. The sound was unusual; a high pitched warbling whistle with an underlying hum, like rapidly discharging electricity, or maybe plasma. One fragment was recovered <12hrs later, after it was seen to ricochet off the house and land on the drive in the footage, with more found in the bushes later on. Some fragments are more melted, fused, blackened (and even vitrified) than others, and many can be pieced together. I believe several fragments can be matched to the 'explosion' of the object caught on film.
I've approached several meteorite experts and the Natural History Museum (London), all of whom dismiss the fragments as slag, and state that meteors do not incandesce at such low altitudes - though I feel this explanation does not satisfy the evidence. I've corresponded with Professors Chandra Wickramasigne and Richard B.Hoover, and they agree there's a similarity of the fragments to the Polonnaruwa stones they studied in 2013. In their paper they conclude the likely origin of that material was a cometary body.
I had brief EDX & SEM (compositional) studies done on three fragments, they are rich in carbon (typ. > 50%), oxygen, moderate silicon and trace metals. Some fragments conduct electricity very well, even at low voltages. Typ. density is <1 g/cm3, though there is significant variation even between fragments that fit together, and it's a mix of non and slightly magnetic pieces. As a whole, it's a mixed bag of 'loosely' held together materials, this is especially true when fragments are viewed under a microscope.
My hypothesis is that these are fragments of carbonaceous chondrite, possibly from a comet, and it was incandescing at such a low altitude because the high carbon lattice-like structure meant it was highly charged by passing through the air at high speed, and the glow and sound we heard was a result of plasma or some other electrical discharge.
Some, of many, images are shared below.
Has anyone come across anything similar, and have any thoughts on my hypothosis?
Cheers,
Shaun
-------------------------------
Hosted on imgur
CCTV - Ours slowed down:
https://i.imgur.com/WRx4eno.mp4
CCTV - From 0.1 Miles away:
https://i.imgur.com/21GvZaD.mp4
Image of the object breaking apart (composite image created of the differences per frame):
https://i.imgur.com/CRhEjXg.jpg
Some fragments I consider can be matched to the image of it breaking apart:
https://i.imgur.com/UJAoYsz.jpg
Largest Fragment:
https://i.imgur.com/sNSNn8M.jpg /
https://i.imgur.com/8POhfIV.jpg
Surface of the largest fragment:
https://i.imgur.com/uxR0PYB.jpg /
https://i.imgur.com/TpqsqHh.jpg
Some more fragment fitted together:
https://i.imgur.com/qWqrl3i.jpg
Hi All,
I've got an interesting event for discussion.
I live in Birmingham, UK. On the evening of 17th July, a fast moving fireball object (assumed meteor) broke apart mid-air showering low density porous brown/red fragments on our drive and garden. We heard it happen and our CCTV caught the event directly, and another from up the road caught the fireball streaking in the sky. The sound was unusual; a high pitched warbling whistle with an underlying hum, like rapidly discharging electricity, or maybe plasma. One fragment was recovered <12hrs later, after it was seen to ricochet off the house and land on the drive in the footage, with more found in the bushes later on. Some fragments are more melted, fused, blackened (and even vitrified) than others, and many can be pieced together. I believe several fragments can be matched to the 'explosion' of the object caught on film.
I've approached several meteorite experts and the Natural History Museum (London), all of whom dismiss the fragments as slag, and state that meteors do not incandesce at such low altitudes - though I feel this explanation does not satisfy the evidence. I've corresponded with Professors Chandra Wickramasigne and Richard B.Hoover, and they agree there's a similarity of the fragments to the Polonnaruwa stones they studied in 2013. In their paper they conclude the likely origin of that material was a cometary body.
I had brief EDX & SEM (compositional) studies done on three fragments, they are rich in carbon (typ. > 50%), oxygen, moderate silicon and trace metals. Some fragments conduct electricity very well, even at low voltages. Typ. density is <1 g/cm3, though there is significant variation even between fragments that fit together, and it's a mix of non and slightly magnetic pieces. As a whole, it's a mixed bag of 'loosely' held together materials, this is especially true when fragments are viewed under a microscope.
My hypothesis is that these are fragments of carbonaceous chondrite, possibly from a comet, and it was incandescing at such a low altitude because the high carbon lattice-like structure meant it was highly charged by passing through the air at high speed, and the glow and sound we heard was a result of plasma or some other electrical discharge.
Some, of many, images are shared below.
Has anyone come across anything similar, and have any thoughts on my hypothosis?
Cheers,
Shaun
-------------------------------
Hosted on imgur
CCTV - Ours slowed down: [url]https://i.imgur.com/WRx4eno.mp4[/url]
CCTV - From 0.1 Miles away: [url]https://i.imgur.com/21GvZaD.mp4[/url]
Image of the object breaking apart (composite image created of the differences per frame): [url]https://i.imgur.com/CRhEjXg.jpg[/url]
Some fragments I consider can be matched to the image of it breaking apart: [url]https://i.imgur.com/UJAoYsz.jpg[/url]
Largest Fragment: [url]https://i.imgur.com/sNSNn8M.jpg[/url] / [url]https://i.imgur.com/8POhfIV.jpg[/url]
Surface of the largest fragment: [url]https://i.imgur.com/uxR0PYB.jpg[/url] / [url]https://i.imgur.com/TpqsqHh.jpg[/url]
Some more fragment fitted together: [url]https://i.imgur.com/qWqrl3i.jpg[/url]