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Sutter's Mill meteorite

Coordinates: 37°36′N 120°30′W / 37.6°N 120.5°W / 37.6; -120.5
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Sutter's Mill meteorite
Fragments of the Sutter's Mill meteorite obtained from Henningsen Lotus Park, Lotus, California.[1]
TypeChondrite
ClassCarbonaceous chondrite
GroupCM2
CountryUSA
RegionCalifornia
Coordinates37°36′N 120°30′W / 37.6°N 120.5°W / 37.6; -120.5 (airburst)[2]
Observed fallYes
Fall date22 April 2012
Found date24 April 2012
SM33 (8.5g) fragment with a small part of the fusion crust missing[3]
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The Sutter's Mill meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite which entered the earth's atmosphere and broke up at about 07:51 Pacific time on April 22, 2012.[4][5] On 3 May 2012 scientists with the Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute utilized an airship to get areal photography of the strewn field with the current vegetation that may help detect more fragments of the meteorite.[6] As of 9 May 2012, 43 fragments have been documented, and the largest (SM27) weighs 35.1 grams.[7]

The preliminary name comes from the Sutter's Mill California Gold Rush site near where some pieces were recovered.[8]

Common meteorwrongs will include asphalt, anthracite, charcoal briquettes, obsidian, black serpentinite (California state rock), river rocks, pebbles, and deer droppings. Meteorites from this fall should have a fusion crust. Broken pieces should reveal white specks that are calcium aluminium inclusions.

History

During the 2012 Lyrids meteor shower a bolide and sonic boom rattled buildings in California and Nevada around 07:51 PDT 22 April 2012.[9] The bolide air burst was likely a random unrelated meteoroid and not a member of the Lyrids shower.[10] The bolide was so bright that witnesses were seeing spots afterward.[11] The event was recorded by two infrasound monitoring stations of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization’s International Monitoring System.[12] The preliminary analysis are indicative of energy yield of approximately 4 kilotons of TNT equivalent.[12] Hiroshima's "Little Boy" had a yield of about 15 kT. The meteoroid was likely between the size of a dish washer[13] and a mini van.[14] The air burst had approximate coordinates of 37°36′N 120°30′W / 37.6°N 120.5°W / 37.6; -120.5.[2] The falling meteorites were picked up by weather radar over an area centered on Sutter's Mill in Coloma, between Auburn, CA and Placerville, CA.[5]

Robert Ward found a small CM chondrite fragment in the Henningsen Lotus Park just west of Coloma, CA on 24 April 2012.[15] Later that day, meteor astronomer Dr. Peter Jenniskens found a crushed 4g meteorite in the parking lot of that same park. On 1 May 2012, the James W. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park's Ranger Suzie Matin discovered two pieces of the meteorite (SM14 @ 11.5 grams) right in her front yard. The park contains what is now known as Sutter's Mill (site).[16]

Comparisons

The event is similar to the 1969 Murchison meteorite in Australia. The only two other witnessed meteorite falls in California with recovered fragments are Red Canyon Lake on 11 August 2007 and San Juan Capistrano on 15 March 1973.[17] Compared to this event's theorized 4 kilotons of TNT equivalent yield,[12] the Trinity nuclear test in Nevada was about 18 kilotons of TNT equivalent[18] and "Little Boy" had a yield of about 16 kilotons of TNT equivalent in explosive force, i.e. 6.3 × 1013 joules = 63 TJ (tera-joules).[19]

Examples

  • SM39 (2.5g)
    SM39 (2.5g)
  • Mike Miller's 5.9g fragment
    Mike Miller's 5.9g fragment

References

  1. ^ "APOD: 2012 April 28 - Sutter's Mill Meteorite". APOD. NASA & MTU. 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  2. ^ a b Bill Cooke of NASA Meteoroid Environments Office (Apr. 23, 2012). "(meteorobs) Fwd: large bolide over California/Nevada". Retrieved 2012-04-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Ruben Garcia. "Sutter Mill Meteorite Hunt". Mr-Meteorite. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  4. ^ Ian O'Neill (2012-04-23). "Minivan-sized Asteroid Exploded Over California". Discovery News. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  5. ^ a b Marc Fries (mfries01) (23 April 2012). "Coloma, CA 22 Apr 2012 1452 UTC". Radar Obs of Meteor Events. Retrieved 2012-04-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Scientists aboard airship to search for meteorites strewn over California gold country". Washington Post. May 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
  7. ^ Peter Jenniskens. "The Impact and Recovery of the Sutter's Mill Meteorite". SETI Institute. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
  8. ^ Franck Marchis (April 25, 2012). "Fragments of the daylight meteor found in California". Cosmic Diary. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  9. ^ Guy Clifton (Apr. 22, 2012). "Meteor shower likely cause of big boom heard throughout region". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 2012-04-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Deborah Byrd (Apr. 22, 2012). "Loud boom and bright fireball over California and Nevada on April 22". EarthSky. Retrieved 2012-04-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Guy Clifton (Apr. 23, 2012). "Local resident's photo of Sunday's meteor goes international". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 2012-04-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b c Guy Clifton (Apr. 23, 2012). "Scientist says sound signal from exploding meteor lasted 18 minutes". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 2012-04-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Explosion Heard in NV, CA Traced To Meteor". KTVN 2 (Reno). Apr. 22, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Fireball Over California/Nevada: How Big Was It?". NASA/JPL. April 24, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  15. ^ Franck Marchis (Wed Apr 25, 2012). "Re: {MPML} Fireball Over California/Nevada: How Big Was It?". Yahoo group: Minor Planet Mailing List (mpml). Retrieved 2012-04-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Sutter's Mill Meteor". Gold Discovery Park Association. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
  17. ^ Peter Jenniskens (May 25, 2009). "California Meteorite Falls". SETI Institute. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  18. ^ Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1986), pp. 677.
  19. ^ Los Alamos National Laboratory report LA-8819[dead link], The yields of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear explosions by John Malik, September 1985.
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