Meteorite sighting?

[Swamp Tiger]

On 12 April near Mansfield my son saw what sounds like a meteorite, possibly before 9.00 pm. 'I saw something big and blue with white in the middle speeding towards the Earth at a ridiculous speed. I was still recovering and processing what had just happened when I heard a distant resounding rumble/boom. It was amazing! If you read anything about it could you tell me.'

Did anyone else see anything like this on that night? Does it sound like a meteorite? Would the noise be the impact or the sound barrier? I'd be glad of any suggestions. Thanks.

[renormalised (Carl)]

The sound you heard would've been the object's sonic boom. It may have dropped some bits and pieces on the ground but more than likely it would've burned up rather high up in the atmosphere. If it came down like you saw it and impacted the ground, you'd know about it...especially if you were close to where it hit. You'd see a bright flash of light, hear a loud cracking noise then a thud as it hit. Then you'd feel the blast effects and seismic rumblings from the impact. If you were close enough to see it hit, then you'd more than likely get covered in the crud blasted from the crater just as the blast wave pulverised you into mash.

Then again, if it was small enough, you'd just hear bits and pieces of it hit the ground with a thud as they came down. Only air resistance would've slowed them down to a few hundred mile an hour before they hit. They'd sound just like a shell from a cannon flying past, overhead.

[robgreaves]

An interesting sighting indeed.

But in the air, as you describe, it's a meteor. It's only a meteorite once its landed and recovered.

ie. You can't hold a meteor in your hand, but you can a meteorite

The bigger ones like you describe normally travel a lot slower due to more drag, and leave trails visible for a few minutes afterwards.

The real fast meteors are generally no bigger than a grain of sand, and come in at anything upwards of 15km/sec, and make no sound audible to the observer at all.

Regards,
Rob.

[Swamp Tiger]

Thanks, Rob, thanks Renormalised. I'll print these out and post them up to my son. And I'm glad to learn the difference between a meteor and a meteorite. Still hoping someone out there might have seen it.

Cheers

[fringe_dweller]

Originally Posted by robgreaves

The bigger ones like you describe normally travel a lot slower due to more drag, .

and because they can penetrate deeper into atmosphere due to size, so they get more drag as a result, typically as low as 70klm, whereas 90-100klm is the norm

how long after the meteor was seen was the possible sonic boom heard? it could of just been a coincidental noise, specially if in the city, and btw not everyone outside of victoria is super familiar with victorian country town/suburbs names

[Swamp Tiger]

Originally Posted by fringe_dweller

and because they can penetrate deeper into atmosphere due to size, so they get more drag as a result, typically as low as 70klm, whereas 90-100klm is the norm

how long after the meteor was seen was the possible sonic boom heard? it could of just been a coincidental noise, specially if in the city, and btw not everyone outside of victoria is super familiar with victorian country town/suburbs names

All he said was that he was just gathering his scattered wits when he heard a loud rumble/boom. He was in the foothills of the Victorian Alps (sorry for not explaining originally), miles from anywhere, so I don't think it could have been traffic noise or similar. Does klm mean anything other than kilometres per hour? You're dealing with a total amateur here.

[fringe_dweller]

a sonic boom from a meteor/bolide would take some many seconds, at around roughly 3 seconds a kilometre to travel and be heard from the ground as you can imagine, so would have to be a large gap between the two events for it to qualify as one, 3 minutes and 30 secs plus for the average directly overhead example. it seems possible being it was in a remote and quiet place tho,
yes i meant kilometres

[TRICKSTAR]

Hi there I was just wondering who in Townsville can verify some meteorite pieces I have found in Townsville ?