This September, graduate students Prajkta Mane (Ph.D. candidate) and Kera Tucker (M.S. candidate) represented the Center at the 77th annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society, in Casablanca, Morocco. Mane's presentation focusses on Zr isotope systematics of Allende CAIs (Calcium-Aluminum-rich Inclusions), and Tucker discussed hydrogen isotope systematics of maskelynite in the Los Angeles shergotite. The Meteoritical […]
Meteorite Offers Clues to Martian Climate History
A new study of the martian meteorite NWA 7533 ("Black Beauty") has concluded that, while water was more abundant on Mars 4.5 billion years ago, the martian surface has been dry and desert-like for at least 1.7 billion years. Using isotopes found in the mineral zircon, researchers were able to utilize meteorite NWA 7533 to […]
Near Earth Asteroid Flyby!
Pull out your telescope if you'd like to see the newly discovered asteroid 2014RC this Sunday, September 7th! The 60-foot-wide (20 metre) Near Earth Asteroid was identified by both the Catalina Sky Survey and Pann-STARRS1 telescopes earlier this week, and will come within 25,000 miles (40,000 km) of our home planet this weekend. Read more […]
Dong Ujimqin Qi
Dong Ujimqin Qi is a mesosiderite that fell the afternoon of September 7th, 1995, in northeastern China. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 81), the meteorite fell on a cloudless day, and witnesses observed black smoke, as well as “a tremendous sound”. To date, close to 130 kilograms of this stony-iron meteorite have been recovered. […]
New Lunar Meteorite Donated to the Center!
August 22, 2014 Arizona State University’s Center for Meteorite Studies recently received a precious gift. Aside from its price tag, what makes this space rock so special is where it came from: The Moon. The new sample belongs to the rare class of meteorites originating from the Moon called “lunaites.” Of all known distinct meteorites […]
