Fresh Fall Australia

[mn90403]

This is impressive!  See a meteor turn into meteorites.

 

Meteor lights up Queensland sky, reports of sightings from Mackay to Cairns - ABC News

[blackjack]

Thanks for that, it confirms a meteor that I saw years ago on a dark country road in Western Australia, I couldn't be sure if my memory was correct. What I remember was it travelling west to east on the southern horizon at about 45-50 degrees it traversed the sky in about 2 seconds lit the landscape like daylight, had a bright tail that from my memory had embers? falling from it ? I've often questioned my memory about the falling embers. 

[mn90403]

As a meteor enters and slows it breaks up before it goes dark and then you can no longer see it.  It is still coming in at that point, it is just cooled to a point where some remaining pieces generate enough heat to glow.

I was lucky enough to witness a satellite coming back to earth.  It was in the middle of the night and I could see several individual pieces burning.  I should have been close enough to hear it but for some reason the sound didn't reach me.  There were heavy pieces way out in front and other pieces, including some that tumbled and twisted following.

I've seen some YouTube videos of returning satellites and they looked very much like the one I saw which was an Iridium satellite.  I looked it up later and knew the exact number.  A couple of days later one piece was found on a farm in Northern California.

There will be some pieces of that meteor found in Australia.  Keep your eyes peeled on the news.

[Erik Oostra]

Today's headline: Amateur astronomers map meteor fall site in Gulf Country, hunt for asteroid pieces continues..  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-26/queensland-meteorite-search-area-mapped/102387230 

I didn't know this: 

In Queensland, you cannot collect or remove a meteorite on state land without approval from the relevant agency. However, on private property, any meteor fragments belong to the landholder.

[mn90403]

Well ... each country has its own laws and by way of the courts when a meteor hits the ground here and becomes a meteorite then it becomes a mineral according to BLM.  If you find it on 'open' land then you can keep it but you would be taking the claim holder's minerals if the land was claimed.

This is a cause of not exactly locating a meteorite and saying it came from a nearby location.  Many fresh falls are very valuable until the quantity found reduces the price.

[GotAU?]

On 5/26/2023 at 6:41 PM, mn90403 said:

Well ... each country has its own laws and by way of the courts when a meteor hits the ground here and becomes a meteorite then it becomes a mineral according to BLM.  If you find it on 'open' land then you can keep it but you would be taking the claim holder's minerals if the land was claimed.

This is a cause of not exactly locating a meteorite and saying it came from a nearby location.  Many fresh falls are very valuable until the quantity found reduces the price.

But according to this BLM publication, a meteorite is not a claimable mineral and they are not subject to mining and mineral laws. Which is right?

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/MediaCenter_PublicRoom_Nevada_Meteorites1.pdf

Ah- an already debated forum subject, but it seems that it’s really not a claimable mineral after all…

I like the video you posted and the segment in it with the partying adults cheering the exploding meteor was funny. It reminded me of one of those apocalypse movies where everyone cheers for the firework show until the sky burns up and Godzilla appears.

[mn90403]

This was our discussion about it before:

I remember when the regulations you cite came out and I think we came to the conclusion that if you go onto a mining claim and take meteorites then that is taking from the claim owner and is not allowed.  If you collect meteorites from open land then it is ok according to the regulation.

Barry would be my authority on the matter as he has studied the Barringer case.  I don't know if there have been any updates and also don't know if one state is significantly different from Arizona where Meteor Crater is located.