4.06.2011

Probabilities go wrong and a meteorite hits you



The chances of a meteorite kill you are just 1 in a million. But can it happen?

Hodges Meteorite


The only known case of anyone being injured by a meteorite fall is that of Mrs. E. H. Hodges, who lived in Sylacauga, Alabama. 
On 1954, November 30, while Mrs. Hodges was resting on her sofa, a 4kg  meteorite crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off the radio and hit her arm, resulting in a minor injury.

Mrs Hodges
Injury caused by the meteorite




Getafe Meteorite 

The damage car


The Getafe meteorite

 

On the afternooon of June 21, 1994, Jose Martin and his wife, Vicenta Cors, were driving in Spain from Madrid to Marbella. As they zoomed past the town of Getafe, a three-pound rock smashed through their windshield on the driver's side, ricocheted off the dashboard, and bent the steering wheel, breaking the little finger on Martin's right hand. It then flew between the couple's heads and landed on the back seat. Other than the broken little finger, they were okay.

 

  

Peekskill meteorite




The Peekskill Meteorite - image from Swiss Meteorite Lab

October 9th, 1992 a meteorite announce its arrival by hitting a parked car in suburban Peekskill, New York, but also the fireball that proceeded the fall of the meteorite was videographed by at least 16 independent videographers.

The Car, the Hole, and the Peekskill Meteorite
Credit & Copyright: Pierre Thomas (LST), ENS Lyon

Eyewitness accounts indicate that the fireball associated with the Peekskill meteorite first appeared over West Virginia at 23:48 UT. The fireball, which traveled in an approximately northeasterly direction had a pronounced greenish colour, and attained an estimated peak visual magnitude of - 13  (comparable to the Full Moon). 

During a luminous flight time that exceeded 40 seconds the fireball covered a ground path of some 700 to 800 km (Brown et al, 1994). 

The meteorite recovered at Peekskill, N.Y.had a mass of 12.4 kg .

A video record suggests that the Peekskill meteorite probably had several companions, however, given the fireball's shallow angle of trajectory the fall ellipse is large. This fact coupled with the harsh terrain surrounds the Peekskill area would suggest that the recovery of related fragments is unlikely.
No injured reported.

Video from Meteorite



So keep watching !

by: dailycosmicnews 

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