2008 Nininger Meteorite Award Recipient

The Center for Meteorite Studies is pleased to announce that Nicholas Moskovitz, a graduate student at the University of Hawaii, is the recipient of the 2008 Nininger Meteorite Award!

Nick's paper, "The distribution of basaltic asteroids in the Main Belt", was published in Icarus and describes his discovery of new classes of basaltic asteroids using a spectroscopic survey of the asteroid belt.  Basaltic asteroids are interpreted as fragments of basaltic crust from large differentiated planetesimals that formed early in Solar System history. Previously, Vesta, the asteroidal parent body linked to the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) group of achondrite meteorites, was believed to be the sole example of a basaltic asteroid with an associated set of basaltic fragments (the Vestoid asteroid class). Nick's discovery potentially explains the sources of anomalous eucrite meteorites that cannot be linked to Vesta.

Nick's paper was selected from among 5 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.

History of the 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 Nininger Meteorite Award, which recognizes outstanding student achievement in the “Science of Meteoritics” as embodied by an original research paper. Past recipients include Harry Y. McSween (University of Tennessee), Edward Stolper (California Institute of Technology) and the recipients of the 2005 Barringer Award (Billy P. Glass, University of Delaware) and Leonard Medal (Joseph Goldstein, University of Massachusetts, Amherst).

Download a list of the past recipients.

Permitted Topics

The original text of the Nininger endowment states that the "Science of Meteoritics embraces all aspects of the study of inert natural matter existing in space, passing through the atmosphere, or having come to Earth from space, together with any or all of the phenomena occasioned by its fall and its effect upon the Earth or upon any other member of the Solar System. Such science shall also be considered to include theoretical consideration as to the origin of such matter and special relationships". Research topics covered under this description include, but are not limited to, physical and chemical properties of meteorites, origin of meteoritic material and cratering. Observational, experimental, statistical or theoretical investigations are allowed.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant must be an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled at a United States college or university.
• The student must be first author of the paper, but does not have to be the sole author.
• Qualifying papers must have been written, submitted or published between November 15, 2008 and November 13, 2009.
• Qualifying papers must cover original research conducted by the student.

Submission Instructions

The 2009 Nininger Meteorite Award application is now available. All supporting materials are due 11:59 PM MST November 13, 2009.  Utilize the Application Form on the left sidebar to begin the application process.

Award Application Process

1. Complete the online Nininger Meteorite Award application (Application Form link to left).
2. Email submission to nininger@asu.edu. (Note: Files should not exceed 10MB; PDF format is preferred.)
3. Notify research advisor that the Nininger Meteorite Award Committee will request a letter of support for your submission. (Note: Your application is not complete until the letter of support is received.)
4. Receive an email confirmation when your application packet is complete.