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Wolcott
Basic information Name: Wolcott
     This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: There is no official abbreviation for this meteorite.
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 2013
Country: United States
Mass:help 838 g
Classification
  history:
Meteoritical Bulletin:  MB 103  (2014)  L5
Recommended:  L5    [explanation]

This is 1 of 9037 approved meteorites (plus 5 unapproved names) classified as L5.   [show all]
Search for other: L chondrites, L chondrites (type 4-7), Ordinary chondrites, and Ordinary chondrites (type 4-7)
Comments: Approved 30 Aug 2014
Writeuphelp
Writeup from MB 103:

Wolcott        41°36.452’N, 73°0.742’W

Connecticut, United States

Fell: 19 April 2013

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5)

History: Shortly after 10 PM on 19 April 2013, a loud boom was heard east to west across southern Connecticut, from Ledyard to Milford. The police departments in Ledyard, Madison, Guilford, Branford, East Haven and Milford received calls from the public reporting the booms. At that time, Lawrence L. Beck, Jr., was watching TV in his home in Wolcott, Connecticut, when he heard a loud noise coming from the attic and saw holes forming in his dining room ceiling. The next day (Saturday, 20 April 2013) Mr. Beck went to the attic to check out what happened, and found a rock split in two, a damaged copper pipe and a hole in the roof. He reported the damage to the Wolcott Police Department. The same day Mr. Beck also contacted John J. Bagioni, a family friend with a background in science. Upon seeing the rock, Mr. Bagioni suggested it might be a meteorite. He also suggested the nature of the rock be checked with the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut. On Monday, April 22, 2013 a Wolcott police officer brought the smaller of the two pieces to the YPMNH where it was confirmed to be an ordinary chondrite. Both pieces were later sold by Mr. Beck to Darryl Pitt of The Macovich Collection who later resold the main mass to the MMGM.

Physical characteristics: The total mass of the meteorite was 838 g. The rock split upon impact in two large pieces and a few small ones; the largest piece weighs 597 g, the smaller one is 221 g. The two large pieces fit together and establish that the piece was completely covered by black fusion crust. Fresh surface is light gray.

Petrography: (Stefan Nicolescu, YPMNH). Composed of sparse, recrystallized chondrules, up to 2.5 mm across (size range: 0.6 - 2.5 mm; average size: 1.0 mm) in fully crystallized silicate matrix interspersed with kamacite, taenite and troilite. Both barred and porphyritic chondrules are present. Feldspar is mostly microcrystalline (<5 μm) with very few large (up to 0.2 mm) crystals in the matrix.

Geochemistry: Mineral compositions and geochemistry: Mineral chemistry by EMP. Olivine (Fa24.2-25.1; N=10), orthopyroxene (Fs20.5-21.4Wo0.9-1.6; N=10), clinopyroxene (Fs7.3-8.2Wo44.8-45.5; N=4), plagioclase (An9.3-11.5Or4.3-6.4; n=10)

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5)

Specimens: 20 g, including two polishe-thin sections and one polished mount at YPMNH; the main mass is held by MMGM.

Data from:
  MB103
  Table 0
  Line 0:
State/Prov/County:Connecticut
Date:19 April 2013
Latitude:41°36.452'N
Longitude:73°0.742'W
Mass (g):838
Pieces:2
Class:L5
Shock stage:S2
Weathering grade:W0
Fayalite (mol%):24.8±0.3 (N=10)
Ferrosilite (mol%):21.0±0.3 (N=10); 7.6±0.4 (N=4)
Wollastonite (mol%):1.4±0.2 (N=10); 45.2±0.3 (N=4)
Classifier:S. Nicolescu, YPMNH
Type spec mass (g):20
Type spec location:YPMNH
Main mass:Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, Bethel, ME, USA
Finder:Lawrence L. Beck, Jr.
Comments:Submitted by Stefan Nicolescu
Institutions
   and collections
YPMNH: Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 208118 New Haven, CT 06520-8118 , United States; Website (institutional address; updated 30 Aug 2014)
MMGM: Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, PO Box 500, 99 Main St., Bethel, ME 04217, United States; Website (institutional address; updated 9 Jan 2020)
Catalogs:
References: Published in Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 103, MAPS 52, 1014, May 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.12888/full
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Geography:

United States
Coordinates:
     Recommended::   (41° 36' 27"N, 73° 0' 45"W)

Statistics:
     This is 1 of 5 approved meteorites from Connecticut, United States (plus 1 unapproved name)
     This is 1 of 1935 approved meteorites from United States (plus 866 unapproved names) (plus 28 impact craters)
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