Bad Astronomy

Melting meteorite makes massive mark?

A big hole (1.5 meters across) appeared in a frozen pond in Canada last Friday. The ice is half a meter thick, so whatever did it packed a heckuva punch.

Was it a meteorite?

Maybe. Hard to say. No one saw or heard anything (of course, it was 80 bazillion degrees below 0 Friday night there)*, and I’m thinking it would have to have been a fair-sized chunk of iron to make that big a hole. The size of the hole indicates a big meteorite if it was one, so it might have still been hot when it hit (smaller ones slow down a lot and cool off before impact).

Of course, other things fall from the sky. Something from an airplane? Kids screwing around (dropping anvils in the middle of ponds…? Maybe not)? I hope they search the pond after it thaws, because I’m curious to know what this thing is. And if it is a meteorite, it’s worth a fortune.

*Update: Commenter Jamie says in fact lots of people did hear and feel something that night. I’m not seeing anything searching Google news though. If that story is right, then it’s definitely worth looking for the object that punched the hole.

Tip of the Whipple Shield to Fark.