Our Mission
The Arizona State University Center for Meteorite Studies, home to the world’s largest university-based meteorite collection, creates new knowledge about the origin of our planetary system through the study of meteorites so that we may understand the pathway to forming habitable worlds. The Center is dedicated to sharing this knowledge with students, educators and the general public by providing educational opportunities that expand awareness and understanding of the science of meteoritics. In support of its research and education activities, the Center aggressively pursues cutting edge conservation approaches for its existing meteorite collection, while also seeking new, significant meteorite samples, so that they may be made accessible to the local and international public and science community for posterity.
Albin, WY, pallasite. This slice of Albin, a stony-iron meteorite, measures ~ 18 cm long. Albin was found in 1915 in Laramie County. Photo by D. Ball, ASU.
About Our Collection
With specimens representing over 1555 separate meteorite falls, the ASU Center for Meteorite Studies houses the world's largest university-based meteorite collection. The collection is being actively used for geological and space-oriented research by scientists at ASU and throughout the world. We are always interested in adding new specimens to the collection by gifts, purchases or exchanges.
Supporting the Center
There are a number of ways to support the activities of the Center for Meteorite Studies. To give a monetary gift in support of the conservation and growth of the Center's collection, please visit the ASU Foundation online giving website. Your gift allows the Center to meet the goals of its mission.
You can also become a "Friend of the Center" or you can "Adopt a Meteorite"! As a Friend, you will receive benefits including our biannual newsletter, invitations to “Friends Only” lectures and tours of the collection and a Center for Meteorite Studies magnet with which you can search for your own meteorites! If desired, your name will be posted in the Center’s museum as a Friend. If you “Adopt a Meteorite”, you will contribute to the care and maintenance of the Center's collection. We will provide you with a photo and certificate of your adopted meteorite, feature your meteorite in the museum for a period of time and provide you with an update when your sample is used by a scientist for study.
For instructions on how to become a Friend or to Adopt a Meteorite, please download the gift form.
New Concord, OH, ordinary chondrite. This stony meteorite, which is ~ 17 cm from top to bottom, fell in Muskingum County on May 1, 1860. It was named after the nearest town, New Concord, which is also the hometown of the first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn. Photo by D. Ball, ASU.
Visit Our Museum
Our meteorite museum is located on ASU's Main Campus in the Bateman Physical Sciences Center C-wing, room 139. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. See the ASU map for building locations and Parking and Transit Services for visitor parking information. For more information on ASU’s museums, galleries, and collections, please visit the ASU Museums website.
Meteorite of the Month
**This month's "Meteorite of the Month" is BONDOC, a B4 mesosiderite. Approximately one ton of this meteorite was found on the Bondoc Peninsula, Philippines, and obtained by H.H Nininger. It arrived at Sedona, Arizona on August 10, 1962, and ~550 kg is housed in the Center's collection. Bondoc is an extremely unusual, heterogeneous, brecciated meteorite consisting of a silicate matrix of cumulate pyroxene with interstitial plagioclase, and clasts of pyroxenite and dunite, together with metal nodules and minor troilite.**
Each month the Center for Meteorite Studies museum will feature a different meteorite that fell or was found within the current month. Learn which meteorite made the cut here, then visit it in person in our museum. Want your favorite meteorite to be considered? Email us with your suggestions!
Henbury, Australia, octahedrite. The Henbury iron meteorite was found in 1931. More than 2000 kg were collected. This specimen, which is on display in our museum, measures ~ 26 cm long. Photo by D. Ball, ASU.
Sign Up for Our Newsletter
To receive a bi-annual newsletter from the Center for Meteorite Studies with updates on new acquisitions, research being conducted by Center scientists, and current events, please click here and enter your email address, name, and preferences. If you prefer regular mail, please email us and be sure to include your full name and mailing address.
Nininger Meteorite Award
In 1965, Dr. H.H. Nininger and Mrs. Addie D. Nininger endowed the Nininger Science of Meteoritics Fund to the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University in order to promote interest in meteorite-related topics among young scientists. The Fund supports the annual Nininger Meteorite Award, which recognizes outstanding student achievement in the “Science of Meteoritics” as embodied by an original research paper. Click on the "Nininger" tab above for more information.
The Center for Meteorite Studies is pleased to announce that Mary Sue Bell, a graduate student at the University of Houston and a senior scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center, and Anat Shahar, a graduate student at UCLA are the dual recipients of the 2007 Nininger Meteorite Award!
Mary Sue Bell
Anat Shahar
Mary Sue's paper, "Experimental shock decomposition of siderite and the origin of magnetite in Martian meteorite ALH 84001", was published in Meteoritics and Planetary Science and investigates impact shock as the source of microscopic magnetite crystals in the Martian meteorite ALH 84001, which were hypothesized by other researchers as biologic in origin.
Anat's paper, "Astrophysics of CAI formation as revealed by silicon isotope LA-MC-ICPMS of an igneous CAI", was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters and describes a novel isotopic analysis technique which constrains the timing and conditions of formation of the earliest formed solids in the Solar System, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI).
Mary Sue and Anat's papers were selected from among 14 Nininger Meteorite Award submissions received from students across the country. Each submission was reviewed by a panel of experts from a broad array of fields in meteoritical science.
DETAILS REGARDING THE 2007 NININGER METEORITE AWARD ARE NOW POSTED ON OUR NININGER PAGE!
