Hi all,
I've been following this story for a while. I'm sure many on the list have as
well. My question is simple. How can a meteorite that has traveled through our
murky atmosphere, excuse me Canada, that falls on the surface of a lake and has
been stored in some guys freezer be considered as pristine as if none of those
things happened?
I can see that his stuff might be in a better state of preservation than most
but will the tater tots smeared on it be a subject of new studies and
scientific conjecture? Were they just stored in a household freezer all these
years? If so they have been in a petri dish.
Bill
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Armando Afonso" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Calgary - To scientists, they are priceless clues about the origins of
> life, but now, six years after he found some frozen meteorite fragments
> that weigh roughly as much as two blocks of butter, a Canadian has
> cashed in.
> The price tag: $750,000.
> And as a bonus, the space rocks that landed in Canada and were poised
> to go to the United States are staying here.
> "It's been a little tortuous at times," Jim Brook said yesterday from
> his home in Atlin, in the northwest corner of British Columbia, not far
> from where the meteorite crashed to Earth.
> "There was no significant interest in Canada for quite a while, and
> eventually, we were able to get something lined up, so I'm glad they're
> staying," Mr. Brook said.
> The meteorite fragments will be housed at the University of Alberta
> in Edmonton and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
> For almost seven million years, the space rock travelled at 10
> kilometres a second and covered a distance of a half-billion kilometres
> before it collided with the Earth's atmosphere in January, 2000.
> The 200-tonne rock was between 25 and 30 kilometres above the ground
> when it exploded and emerged as a fireball over parts of British
> Columbia and Yukon.
> Several hundred pieces, some as large as footballs, landed on frozen
> Tagish Lake, which straddles the B.C. and Yukon boundary.
> Miraculously, about 850 grams of the Tagish Lake meteorite remained
> in a pristine state.
> The fragments were frozen and uncontaminated despite a fiery descent
> to Earth.
> "This material is extremely rare," said Sonia Lismer, manager of
> movable cultural property with Canadian Heritage, which kicked in more
> than $437,000 to keep the meteorite in Canada.
> Mr. Brook, who is a resort operator and has a scientific background,
> missed the light show, but a week later, he spotted the dark chunks of
> rock while driving his pickup across the lake.
> He knew not to contaminate them by touching them with his bare hands.
> "It's pretty amazing when you consider that they came down right
> there on the lake and at that time of year, when there was some snow
> around," he said at the time.
> "The whole thing was a real stroke of luck."
> He put the rock fragments in his freezer.
> Researchers determined that the meteorite, which is fragile and more
> ice-like than rock-hard, was the first to come from a thick band of
> asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
> NASA scientists found previously unseen organic material in the
> carbonaceous chondrite fragments. They detected tiny globules of
> hydrocarbons, which were formed long before our own solar system and
> are the perfect homes for primitive organisms.
> Under Canadian law, meteorites belong to the person who finds them.
> Mr. Brook began shopping the fragments around.
> He found buyers in the United States, but Ottawa turned down his
> application for an export permit because it aims to keep cultural
> property of outstanding significance and national importance at home.
> Last June, the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, an
> independent tribunal, gave federally designated Canadian institutions
> six months to match the market value of the rocks. If they failed, Mr.
> Brook could sell them as he pleased.
> The University of Alberta, the Royal Ontario Museum, Natural
> Resources Canada and the Canadian Space Agency began fundraising, but
> applied for federal grants to make up a $313,000 gap.
> The grants were approved late last year and announced yesterday.
> "It's going to enable a really wonderful camaraderie of experts
> sharing this material for research and it's going to build on the
> existing research that has already taken place with NASA and that
> research is going to extend globally," Ms. Lismer said.
> The University of Alberta has 650 grams of the fragments and the ROM
> has 200 grams. The ROM will display a 52-gram fragment.
> Christopher Herd, a professor with the department of Earth and
> atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta, said the frozen
> fragments will allow researchers to see organic molecules that are
> naturally within the meteorite as well as volatile substances - perhaps
> extraterrestrial ices.
> "It gives us a snapshot of what was happening when the solar system
> formed 4½ billion years ago and it's unlike any other meteorite even of
> its own kind," Dr. Herd said.
>
--- Begin Message ---
|
Calgary To
scientists, they are priceless clues about the origins of
life, but now, six
years after he found some frozen meteorite fragments
that weigh roughly as
much as two blocks of butter, a Canadian has
cashed in.
The
price tag: $750,000.
And as a bonus, the space rocks that landed
in Canada and were poised
to go to the United States are staying
here.
It's been a little tortuous at times, Jim Brook said
yesterday from
his home in Atlin, in the northwest corner of British
Columbia, not far
from where the meteorite crashed to Earth.
There was no significant interest in Canada for quite a while, and
eventually, we were able to get something lined up, so I'm glad they're
staying, Mr. Brook said.
The meteorite fragments will be
housed at the University of Alberta
in Edmonton and the Royal Ontario Museum
in Toronto.
For almost seven million years, the space rock
travelled at 10
kilometres a second and covered a distance of a half-billion
kilometres
before it collided with the Earth's atmosphere in January,
2000.
The 200-tonne rock was between 25 and 30 kilometres above
the ground
when it exploded and emerged as a fireball over parts of British
Columbia and Yukon.
Several hundred pieces, some as large as
footballs, landed on frozen
Tagish Lake, which straddles the B.C. and Yukon
boundary.
Miraculously, about 850 grams of the Tagish Lake
meteorite remained
in a pristine state.
The fragments were
frozen and uncontaminated despite a fiery descent
to Earth.
This material is extremely rare, said Sonia Lismer, manager of
movable
cultural property with Canadian Heritage, which kicked in more
than $437,000
to keep the meteorite in Canada.
Mr. Brook, who is a resort
operator and has a scientific background,
missed the light show, but a week
later, he spotted the dark chunks of
rock while driving his pickup across
the lake.
He knew not to contaminate them by touching them with
his bare hands.
It's pretty amazing when you consider that they
came down right
there on the lake and at that time of year, when there was
some snow
around, he said at the time.
The whole thing was
a real stroke of luck.
He put the rock fragments in his
freezer.
Researchers determined that the meteorite, which is
fragile and more
ice-like than rock-hard, was the first to come from a thick
band of
asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
NASA scientists
found previously unseen organic material in the
carbonaceous chondrite
fragments. They detected tiny globules of
hydrocarbons, which were formed
long before our own solar system and
are the perfect homes for primitive
organisms.
Under Canadian law, meteorites belong to the person
who finds them.
Mr. Brook began shopping the fragments
around.
He found buyers in the United States, but Ottawa turned
down his
application for an export permit because it aims to keep cultural
property of outstanding significance and national importance at
home.
Last June, the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review
Board, an
independent tribunal, gave federally designated Canadian
institutions
six months to match the market value of the rocks. If they
failed, Mr.
Brook could sell them as he pleased.
The
University of Alberta, the Royal Ontario Museum, Natural
Resources Canada
and the Canadian Space Agency began fundraising, but
applied for federal
grants to make up a $313,000 gap.
The grants were approved late
last year and announced yesterday.
It's going to enable a
really wonderful camaraderie of experts
sharing this material for research
and it's going to build on the
existing research that has already taken
place with NASA and that
research is going to extend globally, Ms. Lismer
said.
The University of Alberta has 650 grams of the fragments
and the ROM
has 200 grams. The ROM will display a 52-gram
fragment.
Christopher Herd, a professor with the department of
Earth and
atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta, said the frozen
fragments will allow researchers to see organic molecules that are
naturally within the meteorite as well as volatile substances perhaps
extraterrestrial ices.
It gives us a snapshot of what was
happening when the solar system
formed 4½ billion years ago and it's unlike
any other meteorite even of
its own kind, Dr. Herd
said.
|
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