meteorite strikes Peru, makes large crater - Page 3

stellark · #61 (**permalink**) 27-September-2007, 11:55 AM

Has there been any more news on this? Any consensus on what landed and what caused the mass illness? Seems very odd.

Orion437 · #62 (**permalink**) 27-September-2007, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonClarke

I don't think anyone has direct evidence for arsenic. It is just one possible physical explanation for the reported illness. Andean waters are often high in arsenic because of leaching of hydrothermal deposits. But it is a hypothesis only. I suspect that the most likely cause of illness is the shock of having something like this come down in your back yard.

There is no evidence that this is a satellite reentry. No fragments of machined alloys mentioned. There are reports of chrondritic material and metallic iron. All evidence for a meteorite.

Jon

But a bull died and several farm animals were reported as being sick.

How could a shock make a bull die and animals get sick?

Sorry for my english.

Kullat Nunu · #63 (**permalink**) 28-September-2007, 12:17 PM

I've been following a discussion on the subject on the Minor Planets Mailing List. Apparently people did see a bright fireball (it was day) and heard an explosion (sonic boom?). A member of the Geological Society of Canada visited the impact site and reported that the ground where the meteor hit consists of clays that could have smelled very unpleasant if the groundwater was boiling. Also, a 20 cm fragment of a metallic meteorite may have been recovered.

Fazor · #64 (**permalink**) 28-September-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orion437

But a bull died and several farm animals were reported as being sick.

How could a shock make a bull die and animals get sick?

Sorry for my english.

We have bulls 'round these parts die all the time, and animals also get sick quite frequently (that's why there's so many vetrenary offices).

Are you willing to say you're certian that the deaths and illness of the animals was dirrectly caused by the event, and that their deaths are inconsistant with natural animal health?

KaiYeves · #65 (**permalink**) 29-September-2007, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Are you willing to say you're certian that the deaths and illness of the animals was dirrectly caused by the event, and that their deaths are inconsistant with natural animal health?

Reminds me of the story about the Rabbi who told one of his congregation "I've heard funny noises in the cellar of our community hall and Ms. So-and-so's leg is broken, so I'm going to come visit her." They told their friends, who told their friends, and soon the story was that there was a monster in the community hall basement that had broken Ms. So-and-so's leg. People love to combine disparate facts to make a good story.

Kullat Nunu · #66 (**permalink**) 29-September-2007, 12:16 PM

Official report of the fall is available here.

JonClarke · #67 (**permalink**) 30-September-2007, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orion437

But a bull died and several farm animals were reported as being sick.

How could a shock make a bull die and animals get sick?

Animals can get stressed by loud and suden noises. This can cause ill health and death in extreme cases. And this was an exceptionally loud noise and associated shock wave.

Jon

Neverfly · #68 (**permalink**) 01-October-2007, 04:13 AM

Is it really unthinkable that the impact had a resultant chemical reaction or fumes that wafted over the people and animals?
Is there any evidence of anything like that?

Would we know if there had been such but it left no real measurable trace?

I find the idea of any spacebourn bug highly unlikely, but that a chemical reaction from the impact that made noxious fumes seems plausible.

NEOWatcher · #69 (**permalink**) 01-October-2007, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kullat Nunu

Official report of the fall is available here.

Even that is over a week old, and does not indicate any clues as to the ailments (they were being investigated at the time)
Although, they do say that the reports were exaggerated.

I wonder if we will ever learn if there is any relation. Unless the meteor itself contained "bad stuff", then I doubt any findings will be reported, or more appropriately, hype detracted.

vonmazur · #70 (**permalink**) 01-October-2007, 11:13 PM

According to Linda Molton Howe, it was the arsenic in the water...But to get the whole story from her site, one has to pay.....Just like the "Rush Limbaugh-UFO-Alien-CapeGirardeau Mo"-story.....She has spheres of brass or some other similar alloy to ask for money to read the baloney, and then the one time she actually decides to print the truth, it costs!!!

Dale in Ala

ToSeek · #71 (**permalink**) 11-October-2007, 09:43 PM

Sparks fly over meteorite

Quote:

It's a story worthy of an "Indiana Jones" sequel: Drawn by outlandish legends, a controversial collector journeys to Peru, purchases pieces of a rare meteorite under shady circumstances, then has to hightail it across the border to Bolivia with police in hot pursuit. Now the plot is nearing its resolution - and the finale could make another meteorite-size splash.

"It's been quite an interesting week for me," Michael Farmer told me today from his home in Arizona. "I did have to make my escape, that's for sure. ... Another day in the life of a meteorite hunter."

R.A.F. · #72 (**permalink**) 11-October-2007, 10:55 PM

Finally a picture is published that gives a better idea of the craters actual size.

01101001 · #73 (**permalink**) 11-November-2007, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToSeek

Sparks fly over meteorite

Fallout...

Living in Peru: Villagers in Puno, Peru Guard Meteorite and Keep Scientists from Studying the Area (October 23)

Quote:

[Regional Geology Director] Núñez explained that the townspeople were treating the crater as a "treasure which had to be protected day and night," explaining that they feared losing fragments of the meteorite.

Núñez affirmed that this behavior was only getting in the way of scientists which were attempting to study the meteorite.
[...]
It was reported that Farmer paid villagers US$1000 for 300 grams of the meteorite. Since then, 400 locals have organized themselves into two groups which guard the crater day and night. Núñez has stated that the situation in Puno, Peru is "very tense."

And, preserving a mud pit:

Living in Peru: Meteorite Crater in Puno, Peru to be a Tourist Attraction

Quote:

[Regional President] Fuentes told Andina News Agency that the regional government had designed a project with several stages in which the crater would be preserved and turned into a tourist attraction. The first stage is to take approximately 30 days and will focus on preserving the crater itself.

publiusr · #74 (**permalink**) 14-December-2007, 07:41 PM

I wonder if this was the teton events last lap. Poor meteor.

Kaptain K · #75 (**permalink**) 14-December-2007, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by publiusr

I wonder if this was the teton events last lap. Poor meteor.

Huh?

Sticks · #76 (**permalink**) 14-December-2007, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by publiusr

I wonder if this was the teton events last lap. Poor meteor.

Why are you resurrecting old threads that had long since died?

publiusr · #77 (**permalink**) 14-December-2007, 10:43 PM

I just noticed the story. Too bad it didn't come down in the beltway.

01101001 · #78 (**permalink**) 12-March-2008, 10:07 PM

Thread revived for news.

National Geographic: "Giant Fireball" Impact in Peru Upends Meteorite Theory

Quote:

A meteorite that smacked into the Peruvian highlands last September may have punched holes into long-held theories about how such meteorites, called chondrites, interact with Earth's atmosphere.
[...]
Yet "the [Peruvian] meteorite kept on going at a speed about 40 to 50 times faster than it should have been going," defying the theory, [Brown University's Peter] Schultz said.

In fact it came down intact as a giant fireball at about 15,000 miles (about 24,000 kilometers) an hour, creating a 50-foot-deep (15-meter-deep) crater.
[...]
"Rather than flying apart," he told National Geographic News, "[perhaps] it shaped into a needle and pierced the atmosphere."
[...]
Regardless of what happened, Schultz wants to see the crater protected for future research.

Horse's mouth, Brown University press release: Brown Scientist Answers How Peruvian Meteorite Made It to Earth

Gsquare · #79 (**permalink**) 13-March-2008, 04:58 AM

Here's a good follow up wth more details of how a stony can survive ...and a picture of a simulated test.

http://space.newscientist.com/articl...t-mystery.html

The researchers shot glass beads a few millimetres across from a gun at speeds of up to several kilometres per second through the air.

......

.... when the team simulated higher speeds by increasing the ambient air pressure, the surrounding shock wave was strong enough to act as a barrier, preventing the fragments from dispersing and keeping them flying in a dense swarm instead.

In the tests, these swarms still packed enough punch to produce craters, so Schultz and his colleagues think such a swarm from a shattered stony meteorite could be responsible for the Carancas crater." "

Oh, and here's a great site showing the path the meteorite took with a map of the terrain....elevation 3800 meters! {Possibly the high elevation prevented further erosion - (my opinion).}

Also a PHOTO of the contrail taken by a kid who witnessed it.

And a great close up of the crater.

SEE HERE: http://www.meteoriteguy.com/carancasfall.htm

G^2

Robinson · #80 (**permalink**) 11-July-2008, 10:34 PM

What ever happened to the meteorite?

01101001 · #81 (**permalink**) 11-July-2008, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robinson

What ever happened to the meteorite?

Fragments must have been recovered, for its type was determined. The article above, about the surprise of its having reached the ground, talks as if if may well have broken up and hit the ground as pieces.

(Expedition tale and fragment pictures at Meteoriteguy site)

If the article reproduced in this blog is right, the pieces may be unrecoverable: Fireballs and Meteorites - SOTT.NET 2008 March 3

Quote:

Sadly, the meteorite, or what remains of it, may never be recovered. Chondrites tend to ionize and dissolve in water, and as I write this, the rainy season is arriving in southeastern Peru.

I'm finding it hard to find out about eventual results on the Web because so many fanciful recounts of the meteorite were generated when it hit. I may try later by focusing on meteor experts.

01101001 · #82 (**permalink**) 13-July-2008, 12:48 AM

LPI 2008: PETROLOGY OF EJECTA FROM THE CARANCAS (PERU) CRATER: INSIGHTS INTO THE DYNAMICS OF AN “UNUSUAL” IMPACT EVENT R. S. Harris, P. H. Schultz, et al (PDF)

Quote:

Field Observations: [...] The exposed “underbellies”
of some blocks are riddled with embedded fragments
of the impactor (Fig. 1). This observation suggests that
the bolide fragmented and dispersed

LPI 2008: PRELIMINARY PETROLOGIC ANALYSIS OF IMPACT DEFORMATION IN THE CARANCAS (PERU) CRATERING EVENT R. S. Harris, P. H. Schultz, et al (PDF)

Quote:

The implantation or injection of impactor fragments
into strata that were derived from beneath the
pre-impact surface supports the hypothesis that the
bolide was competent and largely intact when it struck
the ground. The impactor likely fragmented and dispersed
a few decimeters beneath the surface just ahead
of the affected sediments peeling back and being
thrown from the crater.

Wikipedia: Carancas impact event (with, of course, lots of links)

Quote:

The official classification of the Carancas meteorite, accepted by the Meteoritical Society[17] was done by a team of scientist working at the University of Arizona. The meteorite is an ordinary chondrite, an H chondrite breccia, containing clasts of petrologic types 4 to 5. The formal classification is H4-5. The meteoroid had experienced a considerable amount of shock before its ultimate encounter with Earth. Further results are expected, and material is also going to be studied by NASA, British and Japanese researchers according to media reports.

Niger-Meteorite-Recon: Carancas has pictures of some fragments, largest 350 g.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Large meteorite seen during solar observations	Elias	Astronomy	5	18-August-2005 05:25 PM
Testing Astrophysical conditions on Earth	dgruss23	Against the Mainstream	59	14-March-2005 03:32 PM
re. Large crater on Titan imaged by radar	banquo's_bumble_puppy	Astronomy	0	17-February-2005 01:36 PM
Alternate Methods for the Origin of Craters	JESMKS	Against the Mainstream	9	20-March-2004 05:24 PM
possible large meteor crater	aurorae	Astronomy	8	24-April-2003 03:18 AM