Check out this movie I shot on Friday at the Northeast Astro Imaging Conference (NEAIC) in Suffern, New York. It features Geoff Notkin of the TV show Meteorite Men on the Science Channel talking about the April 22 meteorite that was widely witnessed in the west and fell in Northern California.
A meteor in the sky above Reno, Nevada, April 22, 2012. Credit: NASA, Lisa Warren
Intrepid searchers have begun finding pieces of this meteorite fall in the vicinity of Coloma, California, near the original “strike” site of the 1849 California Gold Rush at Sutter’s Mill. The explosion of the fireball has left small pieces of the meteorite on the ground, and treasure hunters are now combing the hills in the area, following meteorite dealer Robert Ward’s first recoveries of small samples. It’s a carbonaceous chondrite, a rare and primitive type from the outer solar system.
Check out Geoff’s description of the fireball, and stay tuned for more involving Geoff and his partner Steve Arnold and
Meteorite Men coming soon. And for more info on meteorites, see
www.meteoritemen.com and
aerolite.org.