Findings from the Strewn-field

Field Reports of the Meteorite-Recovery Lab
by Bob Verish

The 2012 October 18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT) Fireball and Meteorite Fall in the Novato California Area

A compilation of news stories and reports about this meteorite fall.

The above image shows a map depicting some of the streets and public parks in Novato, CA.

List of "Novato" Meteorites Recovered:
Field Name Mass Finder/Owner Location Date Notes

N01 63g Lisa Webber 38.1090° N, 122.6105° W 2012Oct 20 Struck house
N02 65.9g Brien Cook 38.0941° N, 122.5683° W 2012Oct 22 Found in street
N03 79.0g Jason Utas 38.1152° N, 122.5640° W 2012Oct 27 Found in turning lane
N04 >107g Robert Verish 38.1217° N, 122.5670° W 2012Oct 27 Still finding fragments
N05 24.3g Jason Utas 38.1195° N, 122.5720° W 2012Nov02 Found in many fragments
N06 23.7g the Kane family 38.0768° N, 122.5692° W 2012Nov11 Found on school parking lot.

UPDATE (2012-12-12):

Found: Darci Kane, and her son Robert, has found the sixth stone (N06) from the "Novato" fall
on 2012 November 11th
No additional nearby fragments could be found: Total Known Weight (TKW) N06 stone = 23.7grams.

The "N06 stone" (not shown in-situ) was found by Darci Kane (and her son, Robert) on 2012Nov11.

The "N06 stone" is actually a fragment of a still unfound larger stone that broke up either before it hit the pavement (but after it had stopped ablating)or it actually hit the ground, fractured into pieces, and the "N06" fragment was the only piece that could be found. Unlike the "N04" stone, the exact spot where the "N06" mass actually hit the "ground" has not been ascertained. There were several rain-storms between the time this stone fell and when it was found, as well as other contributing factors which has compromised the possibility of finding any of the "missing" fragments. The missing pieces not withstanding, N05 appears to be predominately the black matrix (the portion that is the shock-darkened impact melt)and very little fusion-crust.

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato #6 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-11-06):

Found: Jason Utas has found the fifth stone (N05) from the "Novato" fall
Including as many nearby fragments that could be found (TKW = 24.3g).

The "N05 stone" (not shown in-situ) was found by Jason Utas on 2012Nov02.

The "N05 stone" is actually an assortment of fragments, and although Jason has searched hard (and is still searching), there are not enough fragments in order to reconstruct a complete stone. There were several rain-storms between the time this stone fell and when it was found, as well as other contributing factors which has compromised the possibility of finding all of the fragments. The missing pieces not withstanding, N05 appears to be the first find from this fall that is mono-lithologic, not having the dual-lithology of the previous find, that of light-colored L6 chondritic clasts set in a black matrix of shock-darkened impact melt. Each fragment appears to have a portion of well-adhered fusion-crust.

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato #5 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-11-01):

Found: the fourth stone from the "Novato" fall and the impact feature it formed
The impact of a ~100gram meteorite falling onto an asphalt road produced a shallow penetration hole.

The "N04" stone, as I found it (in-situ) sitting in a gutter.

The name "Novato" is not, yet, a formally-approved name for the L6 brecciated chondrite (A. Rubin, 2012) which is the composition of the stones that comprise the "Novato Meteorite fall".

When the "N04" stone impacted the street asphalt it produced a shallow penetration hole.

During the impact process, the top layer of asphalt was overturned and lies next to the hole. Pulverized fragments of chondritic debris were found in this "mini-crater".

The depression after the chondritic material and other debris were removed.

The spot where the "N04" stone impacted is now a shallow depression in street asphalt and is 60 feet (18.5m) from where the meteorite finally landed in the gutter.

This is the side of the "N04" stone has been deemed the "bottom-side".

The "bottom-side" of the Novato04 stone was the side that was in contact with the gutter, where it was found. As a consequence, it most likely was sitting in rainwater after one of the storms that occurred between the time of the fall and when it was found. The "bottom-side" has the most rust-spots. Given that the "N04" stone has so few scratches, it is assumed that the "bottom-side" is the side that made the initial impact with the asphalt, producing the shallow divet. As a consequence, an unknown amount of chondritic material from the "bottom-side" was pulverized in the process, but only ~10grams of small fragments have been recovered.

This side of the "N04" stone shows the "dual-lithology" of this meteorite (and small patches of fusion-crust).

("Click" on the above image in order to see it full-size.) Novato04 is two meteorites in one stone. One half is a monomict breccia of equilibrated (L6) chondritic parent material, set in the other half, which is a shock-darkened impact-melt. It is my observation that the patches of fusion-crust are of two types, as well. It is my assertion that both types of fusion-crust were each derived locally from the melting of the immediate, underlying lithology and that there was no mixing of these different melts prior to the crust solidifying. This assertion is based upon the following observations. The patches of fusion-crust in contact with the "chondritic material" look similiar to the fusion-crust seen on other fresh chondrites, whereas, the smaller patches of fusion-crust in contact with the black, "shock-darkened lithology" appear to have been more viscous before they solidified. The patches of fusion-crust in contact with the "chondritic material" look larger, because they appear to have adhered better to that portion of the stone, whereas, the smaller patches of fusion-crust in contact with the black lithology, even though they look to have a higher degree of viscosity, much like a drop of molten solder that is in need of more flux, they appear to have had more difficulty adhering to that portion of the meteorite. The fusion-crust derived from the lighter-colored lithology adhers like glaze on a ceramic. The darker-colored lithology is lacking a "flux" that would allow the fusion-crust to adhere better.

To see the CBS-Local TV News item about the Novato04 stone, with more images and a video, "Click" HERE!

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato04 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-10-27):

Found by Jason Utas: the third stone (N03) from the "Novato" fall.
This 79 gram meteorite fell and landed in the middle turning-lane of an asphalt road.

The "N03 stone" (not shown in-situ) was found by Jason Utas on 2012OCT27.

Line of white-spots in turning lane are where N03 stone was driven-over (repeatedly) before being found by Jason Utas.

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato03 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-10-22):

Found by Brien Cook: the second stone (N02) from the "Novato" fall.
This 65.9 gram meteorite fell in the middle of Novato and was recovered from the middle turning-lane of an asphalt road.

The "N02 stone" (before an endcut and complete slice were cut) was found by Brien Cook on 2012OCT22.

The busy asphalt street where the N02 stone was recovered by Brien Cook of Sacramento, CA.

Brien Cook's "N02 stone" (the endcut sample) once it was cut, it clearly exhibited the fabric of a brecciated chondrite.

To see an article about Brien Cook with more images and a video about the Novato02 stone, "Click" HERE!

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato02 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-10-21):

Found: the first stone from the "Novato" fall has been found!
It's a "house-hitter", but the resident didn't find the 63gram stone until 2 days later.

This side of the "N01" stone shows the "splotchy" exterior of this meteorite (patches of fusion-crust).

("Click" on the above image in order to see it full-size.) Novato01, initially, posed a problem in getting authenticated because it had an uncommon fusion-crust.

This image shows where the N01 stone first hit the roof, then bounced along the roof, and then fell next to the fence, where it was recovered by Lisa Webber the home-owner.

To see a video with more images about the Novato01 stone, and how it was recovered by Lisa Webber, "Click" HERE!

To see a gallery of images related to the Novato01 stone, "Click" HERE!

UPDATE (2012-10-18):

Meteor lights up sky across California

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Bob Moreno of Santa Rosa took this photo of a giant fireball that lit up the sky and was seen from Los Angeles to the Bay Area on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. (Bob Moreno)

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A giant fireball lit up the sky around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday and it was seen from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.

Bob Moreno of Santa Rosa was able to take photos of the meteor flaming across the night sky. It had a streaming tail of sparks following behind.

See photos of the meteor that lit up California skies on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

REFERENCES:

The November 2012 article of: Bob's Findings
https://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2012/nov12.htm

....on the Meteorite-Times Magazine website (Click on image to link to the original website.)

Novato meteorite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Novato meteorite (name pending) is an ordinary chondrite which entered the earth's atmosphere and broke up at 07:44 PM Pacific time on 17 October 2012.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novato_meteorite

Search results for internet references to the "Novato meteorite" fall:

Google search results for "Novato meteorite".
Yahoo search results for "Novato meteorite".
Yahoo search results for "Novato meteor".
Novato in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database.

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