RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Meteorites on the Salt Flats
I was just curious if anyone else had read this article. It looks like it includes a couple tips that could make another hunt more successful: http://bolidechaser.tripod.com/lucerne/drylakes.htm ---------- From: Joe Borgione Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 7:16 AM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Meteorites on the Salt Flats <<File: ATT00000.htm>> Today's (1-8) Salt Lake Tribune has an article featuring our own Patrick Wiggins and a discussion of the Bowling Ball experiement. Ever since reading it I can't get the picture out of my mind of a 16 pounder chasing Patrick with his parachute... ;) Joe Borgione Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote: --- Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Chuck Hards wrote:
Patrick informed me that Robert Hague has indeed
found
meteorites in the desert, scouted from an aircraft...
Does anyone know if he found recent falls, or pieces of Canyon Diablo that have been there a long time?
He's at 520.882.8804 if anyone wants to call him.
He was contacted this afternoon. Contact me privately and I'll tell you what he said re: Salt Flat Meteorite Hunt. C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now
Great article, Paul. Thanks for posting the link. I like Oriti's suggestion of taking advantage of a low sun. One could start at sunrise, surveying with binoculars. As shadows were located, a patrol could be sent out to investigate. Regular foot patrols after shadows get too short to be readily visible, (or Brent flies over, dropping a bowling ball & Patrick) then repeat the process late afternoon, 'till sunset. After that, the telescopes come out! Hmmmm...annual Salt Flats meteorite hunt/star party? Chuck --- Paul Witte <questort@attbi.com> wrote:
I was just curious if anyone else had read this article. It looks like it includes a couple tips that could make another hunt more successful:
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Thanks for the link Paul. I was a bit disappointed at by the statement that a metal detector is not an effective tool to use because that was what I had planned to use. Larry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Witte" <questort@attbi.com> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 5:45 PM Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Meteorites on the Salt Flats I was just curious if anyone else had read this article. It looks like it includes a couple tips that could make another hunt more successful: http://bolidechaser.tripod.com/lucerne/drylakes.htm
I disagree with the statement. Many meteorites have been found with metal detectors. They are not very efficient because they cover such a small area, but if you have lots of time... BTW, on a different subject (and not that I expect anyone to try) but hurry on out and watch asteroid 82 Alkmene occult a star (GSC 1888:874) at 6h38'50" x 28d06'21". Should happen between 8:39 and 8:46 UT. I've been watching it approach the star for the last hour or so on CCD and will switch to looking through an eyepiece (yes, I still "look" occasionally) in a few minutes. Patrick Larry Frisk wrote:
Thanks for the link Paul. I was a bit disappointed at by the statement that a metal detector is not an effective tool to use because that was what I had planned to use.
Larry.
The "head", or coil, on most metal detectors is removeable. For some of you hardware guys, why couldn't we wind our own induction coil, make it about ten or fifteen feet wide, connect it to a standard metal detector, and mount it on the front of a truck? Then a grid could be "driven-off" with much greater speed. Any detections could be followed-up by another team with a standard detector and shovel. Chuck --- Larry Frisk <lkfrisk@earthlink.net> wrote:
Thanks for the link Paul. I was a bit disappointed at by the statement that a metal detector is not an effective tool to use because that was what I had planned to use.
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You are correct Chuck. The coil is removable. That sounds like a pretty good idea. I built my first metal detector from scratch and it worked pretty well. There are a couple of local clubs that have years of experience using metal detectors. I may try to contact one of them and see what they think. Thanks for the idea. Larry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards@yahoo.com> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 9:15 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Meteorites on the Salt Flats
The "head", or coil, on most metal detectors is removeable.
For some of you hardware guys, why couldn't we wind our own induction coil, make it about ten or fifteen feet wide, connect it to a standard metal detector, and mount it on the front of a truck?
Then a grid could be "driven-off" with much greater speed. Any detections could be followed-up by another team with a standard detector and shovel.
Chuck
--- Larry Frisk <lkfrisk@earthlink.net> wrote:
Thanks for the link Paul. I was a bit disappointed at by the statement that a metal detector is not an effective tool to use because that was what I had planned to use.
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Be sure to let us know if this is possible, Larry. I'd be willing to build the coil, if supplied with a reasonable design and given plenty of advance notice. Anybody got a few miles of magnet-wire laying around? ;) Chuck --- Larry Frisk <lkfrisk@earthlink.net> wrote:
You are correct Chuck. The coil is removable. That sounds like a pretty good idea. I built my first metal detector from scratch and it worked pretty well. There are a couple of local clubs that have years of experience using metal detectors. I may try to contact one of them and see what they think. Thanks for the idea.
Larry
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Ok, Will do. But I think Kim made a good point about pot holes from digging. I am very careful about leaving the ground or grass just like I found it but Kim, Brent, Patrick, and you all have your names in print and so they would probably seek you guys out if there was any damage. I should mention that the metal detector that I built was from plans that I found in a magazine or somewhere and not my own smarts. The coil was lacquered copper wire and rectangular in shape. It was a very simple instrument. Modern commercial detectors can be set to discriminate out all but certain metals so it may be possible to ignore brass shell casings. For the time being I would like to let things cool down a bit. Larry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards@yahoo.com> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 2:05 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Meteorites on the Salt Flats
Be sure to let us know if this is possible, Larry.
I'd be willing to build the coil, if supplied with a reasonable design and given plenty of advance notice.
Anybody got a few miles of magnet-wire laying around? ;)
Chuck
--- Larry Frisk <lkfrisk@earthlink.net> wrote:
You are correct Chuck. The coil is removable. That sounds like a pretty good idea. I built my first metal detector from scratch and it worked pretty well. There are a couple of local clubs that have years of experience using metal detectors. I may try to contact one of them and see what they think. Thanks for the idea.
Larry
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Dear astronomy friends, I just received the following note, which took me completely by surprised. All I can do is post it on the discussion group so anyone interested can read it and respond. Thanks, Joe From: Mike_Nelson@ut.blm.gov Subject: Dropping bowling balls on salt flats To: bau@desnews.com Cc: Britta_Laub@ut.blm.gov, Brad_Palmer@ut.blm.gov, Glenn_Carpenter@ut.blm.gov, Grace_Jensen@ut.blm.gov, Bill_White@ut.blm.gov, Pam_Swanson@ut.blm.gov Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 08:18:15 -0700 X-MIMETrack: Serialize by Router on LMNI1/BLM/DOI(Release 5.0.8 |June 18, 2001) at 01/09/2003 08:17:33 AM MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Rcpt-To: <bau@desnews.com> X-Spam-Status: No, hits=1.8 required=4.4 tests=MAY_BE_FORGED,NO_REAL_NAME,SPAM_PHRASE_01_02 version=2.43 X-Spam-Level: * X-DPOP: Version number supressed Status: U After reading your article entitled "Researchers to bowl for meteorites" in the Janurary 8 edition of the Deseret News, I was astounded to hear that someone had actually proposed dropping bowling balls on the surface of the salt flats. The Bonneville Salt Flats is an extremely fragile area that is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is home to several nationally significant racing events every year and large numbers of commercial television shoots. Over the past 5 years the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Riley Industries have been working together to increase the thickness of the salt crust on the flats, which the racing community had felt was shrinking over the years. This effort has cost millions of dollars and has, so far, been very helpful in improving the condition of the salt crust. Further studies and projects are ongoing in this environmentally sensitive area. While this proposed project may have some scientific benefit, before ever considering authorizing such a proposal, the BLM would need a great deal of additional information on how the individuals plan on protecting the public's health and safety and the environmental conditions of the area. I would greatly appreciate it if you could facilitate getting Mr. Kim Hyatt and/or the Salt Lake Astronomical Society in touch with our office so that I may explain to them some of the concerns we have with this type of activity. Also, the airspace in the area is controlled by the Air Force and they would probably take a dim view of low flying aircraft in the area where they are training with F-16 fighter jets. You can have them call me at (801) 977-4355 or write me at the following address: Bureau of Land Management Salt Lake Field Office 2370 S. 2300 W. Salt Lake City, Utah 84119 Joe Bauman science & military reporter Deseret News bau@desnews.com (801) 237-2169
I was waiting for this, but I thought it might come from the Sierra Club, not the BLM! (Where's Jim Hansen when you need him?) They need to be told that the club is not the sponsor of this experiment, although club members have discussed it. So far it's really just a protracted brainstorming session. There is much flat land out there, I'm sure that the experiment could be conducted on private property, with the permission of an interested property owner. Perhaps somewhere much closer, rather than near the racetrack area. What does the BLM do when a real meteorite hits the Salt Flats? Does God get an email from them, too? ;) C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
The BLM and the Sierra Club have merged, I call them enviro-nazis, they work very hard to keep us from enjoying the wonderful land we have down here in the central part of the state ( you guys on the front, call it southern part of the state). My $.02 Keep up the good work. Wayne -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-admin@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 9:12 AM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] IMPORTANT re. bowling balls I was waiting for this, but I thought it might come from the Sierra Club, not the BLM! (Where's Jim Hansen when you need him?) They need to be told that the club is not the sponsor of this experiment, although club members have discussed it. So far it's really just a protracted brainstorming session. There is much flat land out there, I'm sure that the experiment could be conducted on private property, with the permission of an interested property owner. Perhaps somewhere much closer, rather than near the racetrack area. What does the BLM do when a real meteorite hits the Salt Flats? Does God get an email from them, too? ;) C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
participants (6)
-
Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman -
Larry Frisk -
Patrick Wiggins -
Paul Witte -
Wayne Reese