July 27th marks the first observed meteorite fall in Arizona's Valley of the Sun! While multiple Valley residents reported fireball sightings to the American Meteor Society that evening, Center for Meteorite Studies Curator Professor Laurence Garvie speculates that many additional witnesses likely mistook the meteorite's entry into Earth's atmosphere for monsoon lightning. So far, only […]
Oldest-ever igneous meteorite contains clues to planet building blocks
Scientists believe the solar system was formed some 4.6 billion years ago when a cloud of gas and dust collapsed under gravity, possibly triggered by a cataclysmic explosion from a nearby massive star or supernova. As this cloud collapsed, it formed a spinning disk with the sun in the center. Piece by piece, scientists have […]
Battle Mountain
Battle Mountain is an ordinary (L6) chondrite that fell in Humbolt County, Nevada, August 22 of 2012. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB101): The fall was observed in weather radar imagery from the US NEXRAD radar network, operated by the US National Weather Service. The discovery and analysis was done by Dr. Marc Fries, Galactic […]
Understanding Solar System history – new magazine article by Center student
Center Ph.D. candidate Emilie Dunham recently wrote an article for Meteorite Times Magazine. The piece, Understanding Solar System History: CAIs in Meteorites, details Dunham's research in the Center as well as findings she presented at the annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society last year. A recipient of the prestigious NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship […]
Albareto
Albareto is an ordinary (L/LL4) chondrite that fell in northern Italy in July of 1766. The meteorite's fall was widely witnessed, as it occurred in the middle of the day, and accounts describe the stone impacting with such force that the ground shook and a cow was knocked off its feet. The 2 kg stone […]
