First two meteorites from the São Paulo bolide on 9 January 2015 (15:35 local time) have been found near Porangaba, São Paulo, Brazil
photo credit: Carlos Cornejo Chacón
Additional and deviating information about this witnessed fall (updated after registration in the Meteoritical Bulletin on 24 May 2015) can be found
(Last update of text below on 24 March 2015)
Meteoroid trail, seen by Ivan Fiuza from Tatui, Sao Paulo, photo: Ivan Fiuza
Trail photographed by Beto Viana, photo: Beto Viana
The meteorite weighs about 420 (450) grams and has a diameter of about 8 cm. Independent of the find the astronomer Carlos Eduardo Augusto de Pietro from Goiânia (GO) had calculated the trajectory and possible strewnfield based on three photos of the dust trails (from the cities of Lençóis Paulista*, Jaú and Tatuí*), radar images and an eyewitness report
Carlos Eduardo Augusto de Pietro’s calculated trajectory (photo: apolo11.com)
He informed Renato Cassio Poltronieri, living in Nhandeara (SP). It’s the first time in Brazil that a meteoroid trajectory and strewnfield could be calculated based on photos and witness reports. Renato Cassio Poltronieri and Maria Elizabeth Zucolotto arrived in Porangaba on January 17, 2015 and on January 18 went to the calculated fall area after Zucolotto had been informed immediately after the fall by the property owner Paulo Gama* that a meteorite had been found earlier.
Julio Caravalho da Silva with the meteorite he discovered. (photo credit: Carlos Cornejo Chacón)
On January 9 Julio Caravalho da Silva*, the caretaker of Gama’s property, and his son Eduardo were sitting on a porch when they heard a long detonation in the sky and about five minutes later Julio heard the sound of two objects hitting the ground, one close by and a moment later one further away. Three meters away from Gama’s house Julio Carvalho da Silva found the meteorite buried in a small impact crater, about 10 cm wide and 25 cm deep.
impact hole (photo credit: Carlos Cornejo Chacón)
Julio did not dare to touch the stone and his son Eduardo called Paulo Gama who checked whether the stone was hot and by doing this was the first to touch the meteorite. The fall location was actually very close to the fall location calculated by Carlos Eduardo Augusto de Pietro. The meteorite is now in the property of Paulo Gama. It has not been decided what will happen to it. A small chip has been removed to have it analysed at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro.There are unconfirmed speculations about the ~ 420g meteorite possibly being an L5 or L6.
The second Porangaba meteorite (425g) / Photo: Jornal voz do povo na região (March 13,2015)
Another meteorite search expedition to find a second meteorite which might have fallen was undertaken between January 30 and February 1. On February 7 Renato Poltronieri was contacted by José Maria of Porangaba who had found a second meteorite weighing 425 grams. Poltronieri, his wife Cristiane and Gabriel Gonçalves travelled to Porangaba to see the meteorite and negotiate with the owner about what to do with it.
José Maria / Photo credit: Jornal voz do povo na região
José Maria gave a 131g-fragment to Poltronieri, which was then cut into five parts. “It was cut into 5 parts. One was for Dr. Beth Zucolotto, scientist at the National Museum, one piece for Gabriel Gonçalves from the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAar) to be analyzed and as a donation to a new museum, […] the other three parts were given to me, Carlos [de Pietro (from Goiânia)] and Marcelo [Domingues (from Brasília)]. My part weighs 30.4 grams”, said Poltronieri. Recently, half of the remaining meteorite was donated to Poltronieri, the rest will be offered to collectors.
Specimen given to R. Poltronieri by José Maria / Photo: Renato Poltronieri
Specimen given to R. Poltronieri by José Maria / Photo: Renato Poltronieri
Specimen given to R. Poltronieri by José Maria / Photo: Renato Poltronieri
Specimen given to R. Poltronieri by José Maria / Photo: Renato Poltronieri
TV report about the Porangaba meteorite search expedition of astronomers Renato Cássio Poltronieri, Jr Martini, Carlos Augusto Di Pietro, Marcelo ‘Ayatola’ Domingues and Jsergio Turriani Marques between January 30 and February 1* (Record Paulista, 4 February 2015)
References:
Astrônomo de Nhandeara mostra parte do segundo meteorito encontrado em Porangaba-SP
(13 March 2015)
Astrônomos buscam pedaços do meteorito que caiu em Porangaba (6 February 2015)
Meteorito encontrado em Porangaba é estudado no Museu Nacional do RJ (25 January 2015)
Histórico: Bramon calcula orbita e localiza meteorito em São Paulo (20 January 2015)
METEORITO DE PORANGABA, SP by Carlos Cornejo Chacón
(19 January 2015)
photo credit: Carlos Cornejo Chacón
photo credit: Carlos Cornejo Chacón
photo credit: Astrocan – Clube de Astronomia de Nhandeara
photo credit: apolo11.com
Aqui vão algumas imagens do meteorito condrítico de Porangaba, SP, cuja queda aconteceu na sexta-feira 9 de janeiro às 15:35 hs aproximadamente, testemunhada por Julio Carvalho da Silva e seu filho Eduardo, caseiros do sítio Alhambra, do cineasta Paulo Gama. Eles contam que escutaram um estampido prolongado e um som vibratório no céu antes de uma série de quedas retumbantes, uma delas presenciada por Julio Carvalho da Silva a escassos metros de distância. Logo após, se dirigiu ao local e achou uma pequena cratera de impacto (buraco na terra de uns 10 cm de diâmetro por 25 cm de profundidade, mas não teve coragem de pôr a mão. Seu filho Edu foi chamar Paulo Gama, que também tinha escutado o som, e este, com muito cuidado para verificar se a pedra não estava quente, foi o primeiro a tocá-la.
Visitamos o local no sábado 17 de janeiro e lá estava Maria Elizabeth Zucolotto, astrônoma especialista em meteorítica que já tinha examinado a pedra. Esta apresenta uma característica crosta de fusão preta e em dois pontos tinha sido fraturada sendo possível ver a simples vista diversos côndrulos metálicos.
Espero que gostem.
Grande Abraço,
Carlos Cornejo.
