Murchison C2 Carbonaceous Chrondrite and its Inorganic Composition

Abstract

ON Sunday, September 28, 1969, between 10.45 a.m. and 10.50 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time, a carbonaceous chondrite was seen to fall at Murchison, Victoria (36°41′ S, 145° 14′ E), 85 miles north of Melbourne. The furthest recorded sighting was from Mildura, 256 miles north-west (see Fig. 1), where it was described as a bright light moving almost vertically downwards. An eyewitness from Canberra, 230 miles east-north-east, described it as a flashing light descending slowly from left to right. From Bayswater (76 miles south) it appeared as a bright object, touched with yellow, moving downwards at a steep angle from right to left, whereas at Rutherglen (74 miles east-north-east) it was reported as a bright white light leaving a short blue smoke trail and moving from left to right. The closest sighting was at Kialla West (17 miles north of Murchison) where it appeared as a bright orange ball with a silvery rim and a dull orange conical tail leaving a blue smoke trail which lasted for 1 to 2 min. The object exploded over Murchison and incandescent fragments showered towards the ground. None of the sightings lasted for more than a few seconds. Although few people saw the fall, most people heard it— the noise, which lasted almost a minute, was likened to thunder, sonic booms, explosions and aircraft. One person reported two distinct explosions.