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Picking up the pieces of the Canadian meteorite

Dozens of remnants of the fireball that lit up Canadian skies last month have turned up in western Canada, according to a researcher leading the hunt. Alan Hildebrand, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Calgary, told ScientificAmerican.com today that around 50 pieces of the object have now been found, the largest of which weighs roughly 28.5 pounds (13 kilograms). The meteor's brilliant trajectory was caught on film November 20 by unsuspecting videographers.

Over the weekend multiple news outlets reported that the search team had discovered remnants of the meteor near Lloydminster, a town of about 25,000 that straddles the border between the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Associated Press reports that a meteorite collector and dealer in Tucson, Ariz., had offered a bounty of up to $9,700 for the first fragment weighing at least 2.2 pounds (one kilogram). Hildebrand says he's not sure if any of the pieces are for sale but that he has informed the landowners where fragments were found of their potential value. Meteorites act as postcards from space in a sense, providing clues to the evolution of the solar system and the composition of distant objects.

Photo of the Holsinger Meteorite, a fragment of the meteorite that created Meteor Crater in Arizona, by Stephan Hoerold/iStockphoto

Tags: asteroids, geology, astronomy, meteorite, space rock, astrogeology
More News Blog: Next: Space shuttle Endeavour creates sonic booms over California as it comes in for a landing Previous: The moon, Jupiter and Venus: Night sky's three brightest lights come together this evening

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  1. 1. eanassir 09:57 PM 12/3/08

    Either this newcomer was a "meteorite" (: any celestial rock reaching the earth surface), or it was a "comet" (: a flaming comet or part of a comet)

    The meteorite will remain upon the surface of the earth, while the comet will bury under the ground.
    http://universeandquran.t35.com/new_page_2.htm#Meteorites

    The comet has a predilection to the frozen and very cold regions of the earth like the north of Canada, the Alaska, Siberia and the Antarctica.
    http://universeandquran.t35.com/new_page_3.htm#Comets


    eanassir
    http://universeandquran.t35.com

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  2. 2. Quinn the Eskimo 01:03 AM 12/7/08

    This is a lie. I know for a fact that the sky is a bowl with the two halves (night and day) painted black and blue). The night side has holes poked in it to let the sunlight through.

    Capernicus was smokin'

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  3. 3. eanassir 03:24 PM 1/5/11

    Yes, your fact is a lie.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
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