how big did that meteorite start at?

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Manukau heads obs
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Joined: Mon 10/03/2003 16:30
Location: West Coast Road, Manukau Peninsula, North Island

how big did that meteorite start at?

Unread post by Manukau heads obs »

that landed in the living room of a auckland house! (after smashing through the roof (interesting the entry hole was bigger than the exit hole, opposite to a bullet (but then I guess its because the tiles broke)))
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Brian Hamilton, weather enthusiast. My weather dataEmail: [email protected]
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NZstorm
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Joined: Mon 10/03/2003 19:38
Location: Grey Lynn, Auckland

Unread post by NZstorm »

These things are supposed to break up and obliterate as they come through the atmosphere. So its a fair guess to say its a fragment of a larger meteorite. Bit of a freak. Last time one of those was found in NZ was 1976 according to newspaper.
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ScottyD
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Joined: Tue 10/06/2003 15:34
Location: Mission Heights, Auckland

Unread post by ScottyD »

What meteorite is this? Did i miss something. The other day there were reports of a possible meteor making a loud bang over Hawkes Bay. Is this the same one you are talking about and did they find it? Or is this another?
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Manukau heads obs
Posts: 12305
Joined: Mon 10/03/2003 16:30
Location: West Coast Road, Manukau Peninsula, North Island

Unread post by Manukau heads obs »

it was a house in auckland, went right through the roof...
not related (?) to the hawkes bay one...

it was quite a large rock that ended up on the couch (?) in the TV room
1.5kg or so (from memory) in weight
amazing...

it must have started the size of a person maybe?...i.e it would have got smaller as it burnt up as it came in through the atmosphere...
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Brian Hamilton, weather enthusiast. My weather dataEmail: [email protected]
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Gary Roberts
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Joined: Sun 18/01/2004 18:59
Location: Omarama

Re: how big did that meteorite start at?

Unread post by Gary Roberts »

Manukau heads observer wrote:that landed in the living room of a auckland house! (after smashing through the roof (interesting the entry hole was bigger than the exit hole, opposite to a bullet (but then I guess its because the tiles broke)))
It depends on the composition, Brian. If it's a nickel-iron type it won't have lost a great deal of mass, but if it's a stony type (which is most likely, as the vast majority are) it may well have lost a great deal of mass. I've seen it written that a car sized stony meteoroid will become a fist sized meteorite by the time it's passed through the atmosphere.

Check out a book called 'Rocks from Space', and don't be put off by the cheesey title and cover! It's considered to be one of the best books on the subject, and a very good read to boot. Most public libraries have copies, since it's very popular.
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