Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Michigan Meteorites Found!

By Robert Trembley  |  22 Jan 2018

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Michigan Meteor

For several days after the bolide exploded over southeastern Michigan, amateur and professional meteorite hunters have been combing the Hamburg area and finding pieces from the Jan 16th fall. Lakes in the area have been heavily searched, and the pros have dredged the lake ice surfaces using a small tractor pulled sieve.

The American Meteor Society has posted several images of smiling hunters with their finds on Facebook and Twitter:

We are happy and excited to report, two meteorites from the Jan 16th fall have been found in Michigan today. Congratulations to Robert Ward and Larry Atkins on the first two reported finds.https://t.co/owanBvLM0Q pic.twitter.com/HUVQFelTEj

— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) January 18, 2018

Several more meteorites were found in Michigan yesterday. Here are some pictures from the field. Thanks to Chris Cooper and Fred McPherson for sharing.
AMS Event: https://t.co/owanBvLM0Q pic.twitter.com/VjRR3bDEGp

— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) January 20, 2018

I got this photo from Cranbrook Institute of Science:

Cranbrook held a spur-of-the-moment “popup event” on Saturday the 20th; the public was invited to bring in suspected meteorites they had found, and Cranbrook geologists would let you know if it was a meteorite or a meteor-wrong. 419 people showed up, many of them at the start of the 1:00 PM event. John Zawiskie, Curator of Earth and life sciences at Cranbrook confirmed several small meteorites from the Hamburg fall, as well as all sorts of rocks, slag, concrete and a couple iron meteorites from the Campo del Cielo fall.

The meteorites are chondrites with a black fusion crust, some regmaglypts, distinct chondrules, and a strong attraction to a magnet. -John Zawiskie, Cranbrook Institute of Science

Chondrites: a type of stony (non-metallic) meteorite.
Chondrules: small round grains found in chondrites. They form as molten or partially molten droplets in space before being accreted to their parent bodies.
Fusion crust: a thin glassy coating, usually black, that forms on the surface of a meteorite by heating due to friction with the Earth’s atmosphere.
Regmaglypts: thumbprint like impressions on the surface of some meteorites that form by ablation of material during atmospheric flight.

Below is a frame from a video showing the orbit of the Hamburg Michigan’s parent meteoroid:

Orbit of the Michigan Meteor's Parent Meteoroid Orbit of the Michigan Meteor’s Parent Meteoroid. Credit: David L. Cook / NASA / MEO / UWO.

Like many of these objects, they spend long periods of time way out in the main asteroid belt, before falling inwards toward the inner solar system – and picking up speed as the go. They usually round the Sun and head back outward, but this time the Earth got in its way. The meteoroid entered the Earth’s atmosphere going 36,000 miles per hour, and at a very steep angle! Estimates of the meteoroid’s size range from one to a couple yards across.

Chelyabinsk bolide Artist concept of the 2013 Chelyabinsk bolide. Credit: Don Davis

Update: Changed attendance numbers at the Saturday Cranbrook event after I got final attendance numbers.

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

Corkscrew Prom

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  21 May 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

From the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages (Younger Readers) — Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas

By Faith and Science  |  21 May 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Visit of Br. Guy Consolmagno S.J.

Pluscarden Abbey  |  19 May 2025  |  Press

The Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas, Realities, and Science

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  17 May 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts in this Series:
"Michigan Meteor"

Nature’s “Where I Work” Photography Exhibition at King’s Cross Shows Br. Guy Consolmagno

By Robert Trembley  |  23 Apr 2024  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Press Release: New cosmological research of the Vatican Observatory

By Robert Trembley  |  26 Mar 2024  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

“Faith in Science: Catholic and Jewish Perspectives on Creation and the Cosmos.”

YouTube  |  6 Nov 2023  |  Press

Seeking God in science is part of Jesuit’s vocation

YouTube  |  25 May 2022  |  Press

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Tours
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Donate
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement  |   This website is supported by the Vatican Observatory Foundation

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard