Likely Guy
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13 kg. Meteorite "put in safe-keeping in the local credit union".
From: http://www.vancouversun.com/Technol...meteorite+find+sets+record/1562106/story.html (With video!)
EDMONTON — The spectacular asteroid that tore through the skies above Alberta and Saskatchewan in November has resulted in a Canadian record for the number of fragments collected from a single meteorite fall, with about 1,000 pieces now recovered.
But the next few weeks will be crucial for scientists studying the meteorite, as farmers will soon begin cultivating their fields and grass will start growing in pastures, which will hamper search efforts.
"One day searching now is worth a hundred later," said Alan Hildebrand, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science at the University of Calgary.
Hildebrand's team has recovered 400 fragments of the Buzzard Coulee meteorite, which was named after the area of southwestern Saskatchewan where it fell on Nov. 20, 2008. The other 600 fragments have been collected by landowners who have informed the university team of their finds.
About 700 pieces were recovered from a Bruderheim meteorite fall in 1960. That find added up to about 300 kilograms of meteorite, compared with the 100 kilograms collected from the latest fireball.
The hundreds of pieces collected from the Buzzard Coulee mean that Hildebrand and his team can closely study intricacies such as the "unusual inclusions" that are embedded in one in every 50 meteorite pieces that have been collected. The light-coloured, foreign material has not been identified, but the number of pieces available to study will help scientist piece together the puzzle.
Scientists are still looking for three big chunks of the meteorite, but they've been buoyed by a 13-kilogram chunk found by an oil and gas worker on a farm belonging to Alex Mitchell a few days after the impact.
"He found it on the Friday and put it down on our kitchen table on the Sunday," said Mitchell, whose property is south of Lloydminster.
Although large meteorite fragments can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, Mitchell — who had legal claim to the specimen — and the man who found it opted to donate it to the University of Calgary.
"We decided between the two of us that it belonged to the greater good," Mitchell said. "We put it in safe-keeping in the local credit union in Lloydminster."
From: http://www.vancouversun.com/Technol...meteorite+find+sets+record/1562106/story.html (With video!)
EDMONTON — The spectacular asteroid that tore through the skies above Alberta and Saskatchewan in November has resulted in a Canadian record for the number of fragments collected from a single meteorite fall, with about 1,000 pieces now recovered.
But the next few weeks will be crucial for scientists studying the meteorite, as farmers will soon begin cultivating their fields and grass will start growing in pastures, which will hamper search efforts.
"One day searching now is worth a hundred later," said Alan Hildebrand, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science at the University of Calgary.
Hildebrand's team has recovered 400 fragments of the Buzzard Coulee meteorite, which was named after the area of southwestern Saskatchewan where it fell on Nov. 20, 2008. The other 600 fragments have been collected by landowners who have informed the university team of their finds.
About 700 pieces were recovered from a Bruderheim meteorite fall in 1960. That find added up to about 300 kilograms of meteorite, compared with the 100 kilograms collected from the latest fireball.
The hundreds of pieces collected from the Buzzard Coulee mean that Hildebrand and his team can closely study intricacies such as the "unusual inclusions" that are embedded in one in every 50 meteorite pieces that have been collected. The light-coloured, foreign material has not been identified, but the number of pieces available to study will help scientist piece together the puzzle.
Scientists are still looking for three big chunks of the meteorite, but they've been buoyed by a 13-kilogram chunk found by an oil and gas worker on a farm belonging to Alex Mitchell a few days after the impact.
"He found it on the Friday and put it down on our kitchen table on the Sunday," said Mitchell, whose property is south of Lloydminster.
Although large meteorite fragments can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, Mitchell — who had legal claim to the specimen — and the man who found it opted to donate it to the University of Calgary.
"We decided between the two of us that it belonged to the greater good," Mitchell said. "We put it in safe-keeping in the local credit union in Lloydminster."
