Mike's Astro Photos

Nasa has just published over 1,500 high resolution photos of Mars. These are the best / most comprehensive mars pictures every released. Pretty cool:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-136

High Res Mars Pictures

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Mike Gaines and Mike Hankey

I have had a very productive week on the meteor front. Numerous leads and contacts came in as a result of the Lancaster newspaper article, my mailing also was delivered to the farmers (I got confirmation of this today). I was in the field yesterday and today following up on leads, searching fields and talking to farmers, businesses and residents.  I started out early and met up with Jeff a fellow meteorite hunter from Northern PA. Jeff has been helping me out with a lot of stuff, we covered a lot of ground today and he taught me a few new things. Jeff took off around 4:00 and I drove about 7 minutes away from the primary search zone to do a second follow up on a new lead.

Here is that lead:

Mike, I was reading the Lancaster paper tonight and saw about the meteorite-I think this clears something up for me- I am in CLASSIFIED, Pa on the early morning of July 6th, I couldnt sleep and was watching tv- all the sudden I heard a huge bang right outside my 2nd story bedroom( scared the living outta me. I peeked out and didnt see anything, I thought at the time someone must have thrown a m-80 or something at my window-upon inspecting better in the morning there is a huge dent on the top of my patio roof with black splat marks, right underneath my bedroom window-it also left a couple holes. I looked around on the ground to see if I could see anything there, but now i will have to check a little harder, after seeing your pic in the paper. But I am sure now that is what it was, because my house does not have easy access to my back yard-Thanks for the article but I think you need to be looking north of intercourse-Jeane

I have seen a lot of evidence at Jeane’s house that suggests the meteor struck her roof. I will be publishing more details in the next couple of days. I have learned to not get too excited with things, but I really think this could be it.

On my way home I stopped by Mike Gaines house. Mike is the star eye witness for the Mason Dixon Meteor and lives 15 minutes away from the geometric impact point. Mike is hunting Saturday so I dropped off a box of fliers, a few rare earth magnets and a handful of NWA meteorites to hand out to children who live on the farms. Mike recently discovered the latest video of the meteor and I got to watch the high res version on his computer. It looks much better than the one on you tube. Mike showed me his porch where he witnessed the meteor and he pointed to the area of the sky where it was. Mike’s eye witness account is very interesting as he saw multiple objects in the sky after first seeing a very bright light. Hearing the story again and being there in person gave me chills. Stay tuned for the latest updates on the meteor search. I think we are close to the end of this story.

Thanks to the article in the Lancaster newspaper I’ve been getting lots of emails with great new leads, information and a bunch of new meteorite hunters too. If you have information, think you found something or want to help with the search please email me at mike.hankey [AT] gmail.com.

Meteor Wrong But What

Yesterday, I got a call from Susan in Quarryville. Susan had found three rocks on her front lawn that were odd and just showed up one day. Quarryville was a hot search area six weeks ago and is under the flight path so the report was credible. The description Susan gave me over the phone also sounded like a meteorite. I went out to her house to inspect the rock. It was definitely interesting and a rock that I have never seen before. After looking it over and testing it with a magnet I concluded it was probably not a meteorite. While it had a crust and looked burnt, it had crystals on the outer shell and I could see layers inside the stone. It was very heavy and very odd. I’m not sure what it is and I’ve searched on google images for purple crystallized rock and a few other keywords. Please leave a comment if you know what this rock is. Thank you Susan for calling me and letting me know about this, I’m sorry it didn’t turn out to be a meteorite, I really thought it was going to be one.

Dan Michaels Search September 2nd, 2009

A bunch of new meteorite hunters have joined the search which is great. Guys lmk if you have any questions. The best next thing to do is get out to the target area, start talking to farmers and telling them about what happened. Encourage them to search for meteorites on their own. Explain to them that the meteorites are black and magnetic. Tell them to keep an eye out for these that they are worth a lot of $$$. Every farmer I have talked to has been very interested in the story and will be willing to look for them when he cuts his fields — this is our best chance of recovery! But while you are at it, also ask him if you can search some of his fields. Tell him you will hand over anything you find and he will 99% of the time let you search right on the spot. Just don’t go on Sundays. Try to keep track of what fields you searched. If you want specific satellite zoom maps send me the coordinates that you want and I will email you a map.

One of the new meteorite hunters, Dan Michaels who contacted me has already been out in the field and is marking his territory. Dan is an amateur astronomer too and knows about meteorites. Great to have you on board Dan! We have over a dozen hunters who are currently working the area or will be working the area very soon.  The area Dan choose to search and the way he documented his search is a perfect example to follow. In Dan’s map C represents corn fields and T represents tobacco.  Dan mentioned that the corn field he was searching was cut the day before and the farmer was already laying manure! I thought they usually waited a couple of weeks. Dan said it is common for a lot of farmers to fertilize the land right after cutting the corn. It is critical that we talk to each and everyone of these farmers before they cut their crops so we can let them know what happened and to be on the lookout.

Here are a few pics Dan took out in the field. Nice work Dan! You are da man!

Dan Michael's Search Field September 2nd, 2009

Dan, horse shoes are good luck right? Are you suggesting something here? I take this as a another very positive sign.

Dan Michael's Horse Shoe - September 2nd, 2009

This search is picking up serious momentum. This thing is out there and we’re going to find it.

Lancaster County paper had a front page news story about the meteorite hunt:

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/241689

I’ve already gotten some really great leads from the article. If anyone out there from Lancaster knows anything or wants to help, please leave me a comment on the blog or email me : mike.hankey [AT] gmail.com

Thanks!

Mike

The pier as it is called is the center piece and one could argue most important part of an observatory. The pier is what the telescope rests on and a stable platform is critical when you want to take astro photos. I put a lot of time into researching and thinking about the type of pier I wanted to use and I ended up going with pier tech. This pier is a square metal column that is mounted to a plate set in concrete on or above the ground. Our concrete pillar ended up using 3000 pounds of concrete and was a pear shaped block at its widest point 3×3 and narrowest 2×2. The pier is two feet off ground level and is buried three feet under ground.

Another element of pier placement and development planning is the true north issue. Telescopes need to be mounted in a specific way so that they are pointed exactly true north. True north and magnetic north are different, so using a compass is unreliable. I wanted the structure of the observatory itself to be set to true north, meaning the east and west walls point exactly north and south. The building itself is a compass pointing at true north. The frame for the pier was set in the center of the structure and its walls are parallel with the buildings walls.  To determine true north markings I used a variety of methods including: using a compass and offsetting for magnetic north (not recommended), using a sun dial at solar noon, using a telescope / the stars with drift alignment (and then marking the ground based on wedge location) and using a GPS. When all was said and done we got it right. For those of you who want to know the best way to find true north, I would recommend using a good hikers GPS (or iPhone compass) to figure it out.

Here are some pics of the pier construction. These are from a few weeks ago, the observatory is nearly completed, I will post more pics of the construction soon.

Meteorite hunters wanted!

Currently seeking candidates for Meteorite Hunter and Team Leader positions.

A successful Mason Dixon Meteorite Hunter will:

• be a hardworking, fair minded, determined, persistent, patient and honest person with good moral character
• enjoy nature and being outside
• have attention to detail
• have no criminal record (no felonies)
• be polite and respectful to the locals,
• not use foul language, litter, or use alcohol or drugs while in the field  (if you smoke keep it in the car)
• No experience necessary, we will train you on the job.

As a Meteorite Hunter you will be responsible for searching fields and farm land for meteorites. You will be required to keep track of your search areas on custom maps provided to you and report back to your team leaders regarding search progress. No special equipment or skills are required. If you have a good pair of eyes and an able body you can find meteorites.

Team Leaders will possess the same qualifications as Meteorite Hunters but will have added responsibilities. As a Team Leader you will:

• manage the relationship with the landowner: when needed request permission to search, educate the land owner about meteorites, provide land owner with search updates, and notify them when you arrive and leave the property;
• be assigned specific search areas, you will be responsible for managing these areas, determining when fields will be available for search, determining the window of opportunity before the land is tilled and ultimately making sure that the land in your area is thoroughly searched.
• you will be responsible for recruiting and managing meteorite hunters, organizing and scheduling search parties, coordinating efforts etc.

These positions are volunteer based and should be applied for purely for the fun and excitement of it (however there are other perks). For immediate consideration and more information please contact mike.hankey@gmail.com

I purchased a custom satellite photo of the search area a couple of weeks ago. The photo was taken on July 5th, 2009 one day before the fall. While the picture doesn’t show me where the meteorites are it has been helpful in reviewing the areas I’ve searched or am planning to search. Its a 50 cm resolution photo which means each pixel is 50 cm. The image was almost 200 megs and came in tiff format. Here are two screen caps of the image, one showing the entire image and one showing a smaller area at max resolution.

Bird in Hand satellite photo from July 5th, 2009

One lane bridge satellite photo from July 5th, 2009

I’m in the process of drawing overlays on the maps for all of the places I have searched or other meteorite hunters I’m working with have searched. I plan on publishing these soon and trying to keep them up to date as best I can. Its a lot of work to update the maps, with the info but of critical importance. With more and more people searching and more and more days in the field its easy to forget where you have already been. Here is a search map of an area I’ve been working the last few times I’ve been out.

Searched areas near one lane bridge

I got this email from Rob Matson regarding our current search location.

Farming in Lancaster

Regarding the new video from east Lancaster, Marc wrote:

“I don’t know enough about it (location, direction of view, etc.) to really say anything about how useful that video is.  I can say this, though – this meteor has already yielded far more data and a better set of calculations about its position than the vast bulk of meteors that actually produce meteorites.”

Marc is absolutely right on this score:  it is extremely unusual (and fortunate) to have such good information for a bolide.  Rarely are you able to pinpoint the fall location so accurately.

Marc wrote:

Derik Bower Hunting Meteorites in Lancaster, PA

“Fundamentally, people find meteorites by looking at the ground and covering as much ground as possible.  I’m just saying that from here on out I think time spent best is time spent walking in the fields, whether that’s by you and your colleagues or by motivated locals. Meteorites are probably out there, and we’re not going to improve their estimated location very much.”

While this is all true, there is also an undeniable human psychology that goes along with searching for meteorites where none have yet been found. It is that nagging voice in your head that taunts you with distracting thoughts:  “Am I even close to the right location? What if there is some fundamental error in the calculated impact zone? Is it still possible that the astrophoto recorded something other than the bolide? Could the whole thing have disintegrated to dust and failed to produce discoverable meteorites?”  It’s only human to have these doubts after you’ve spent a fair amount of time looking. Meteorite hunting is far from an exact science, which is part of what makes it so rewarding when you ARE successful.

Levis Fourth Field

So let me give you some words of encouragement. First of all, there are definitely meteorites on the ground somewhere. The entry velocity was slow enough, the bolide was bright enough, fragmentation did occur, and sonic booms were heard/felt. Yes, the comparatively small size of the estimated impact location is entirely due to the tight tolerances imposed by your astrophotograph, so without your photo you’d be stuck searching a much larger area. This is why it’s crucial to rule out alternative possibilities (like airplanes) as being the source of the streaks in your image. I think I’ve done a fairly thorough job of debunking the airplane possibility, so we’re not left with many realistic alternatives. A bolide is by far the most likely remaining choice.

Its also not space junk. This is easily checked (and I always do for especially long- lasting bolides with shallow entry angles), but in this case there is no need. Man-made space debris never reenters at steep angles. Well, not absolutely never — there is one exception: a suborbital trajectory (i.e. missile impact). But I think we can rule that out in this case, seeing as how you don’t live very near Kwajalein Atoll!

This is NOT the Mason Dixon Meteor. My friend Mark emailed me this video after he saw it on an astronomy forum. I lifted the video off of you tube and re-edited it to remove 1:40 minutes of dead time. I then looped the video 5 times so you can see it. It was originally posted as a UFO video, so it could be fake, but some people think it is a fireball meteor. I wanted to put it out there to see what you think. LMK by leaving a comment.

here is the original post from the space.com discussion forum.

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Google is the best

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A friend sent me this video. It is the coolest space video I have ever seen.

I had another meteor dream last night. We had found the meteor. Scientists determined the fall was part of a large comet that would collide with Earth on its next pass. Bruce Willis was in it. It was pretty cool.

This picture came in on a comment after I made this post. The pic was so good, I had to promote it to the front page.

Meteor Dream

I’m gonna cut this series short one night, do a combo and post the last 2 maps. Its late and I had a long day in the field searching the sides of roads and talking to farmers and locals. I’m going back tomorrow so I have to get some rest. I will update this post later with the sector detail maps.

While the strewn field map does not have any markers in the blue zone or yellow zone, they are still worth searching and contacting landowners in this area is also a top priority. The blue zone especially could be good as the meteor path crosses it. The yellow zone is west of the current trajectory, so it is slightly lower priority, but should nothing turn up in the other areas this will be next on the list. Landowner contact in the yellow zone is also a top priority.

Mason Dixon Meteor - Blue Zone Map

Mason Dixon Meteor - Yellow Zone

Here is the map for the red zone.

Mason Dixon Meteor - Red Zone Map

The scarecrow in this map represents the 10g marker. It has been suggested that the best place to find meteorites would be inbetween the 10g and 100g markers (100g is in the orange zone). Meteorites in this size range (10g-100g) would be the most plentiful and therefor the easiest to find. These markers are only as good as the calculations which are estimates, so while it is suggested these are the ‘target areas’ there is a margin of error and in reality it could be a few clicks the other way. Contacting all land owners and searching all areas in all 5 of these zones and possibly more zones will be required. Unfortunately its not as easy as going to the exact location marked on a treasure map. Treasure maps are still fun though.

Red Zone - Sectors A, B, C

Red Zone - Sector D

I will be in the search area Friday and Saturday, if you are interested in hunting together send me an email.

Here is the second map in a series of five — The Orange Zone.

Mason Dixon Meteor - Search Zone Orange

The Orange Zone is special because it contains three markers from Marc Fries strewn field map. These markers should not be intended to be an x-marks the spot indicator (trust me I’ve been to them already). They are simply a calculated estimate based on lots of assumptions. They indicate an area where these sized meteorites would be found (if they existed in the first place) and all assumptions were true. With that being said the markers are:

• Dead Tree = 10,000g
• Man Eating Carp = 1,000g
• Cross Roads = 100g

Here are the high zoom maps for the four sub sections.

Orange Zone - Sector A

Orange Zone - Sector B

There is a stream that runs through the middle of the orange zone. In sector A, I saw a big black rock sitting in the middle of the stream. I’m going to walmart to get some black waders before my next outing. I must admit I have already pulled a 30lb black rock out of the stream, turn out to be terrestrial (no I didn’t bring it home with me).

Orange Zone - Sector C

Orange Zone - Sector D

I recommend printing all of the maps and drawing on them with a pen or pencil. Shade in areas you’ve searched. Write notes on the back about land owners and number the notes to the keyed houses on the master maps. I’ve noticed the farmers really love to see their properties on these maps. Use the zoomed in satellite sector maps when talking to the farmers, I’m not sure how they would interpret the skull and cross bones on the pirate maps… Its a little scary

If you are serious about searching and talking with the landowners email me (mike.hankey [AT] gmail.com) and I can give you some tips and set you up with some information packets and other things.

Most of these roads have not been thoroughly searched. If you don’t want to deal with asking for permission, check the ditches and grass on the sides of roads.