RE: [meteorite-list] Red Rain in India
Don't know about red rain but this looks pretty Alien!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4785482.stm :) __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
AW: [meteorite-list] Collections in MetBase
Hello Mike, You are welcome to send me your collection details. There is no firm criteria as to whether a collection is included in MetBase or not. Naturally, private collections are by far more dynamic than institutional. This often causes problems to keep the information up-to-date. I usually don't consider meteorites with total specimen weight less than 1 grams, except for very rare types or low TKWs. Less than 20% of all (700+) collections listed in MetBase are private. This is not surprising, since many private collectors don't publish catalogs or inventory lists or at least don't want to have their collection data disclosed. Further, public repositories holding just a single meteorite (the main mass) are always named in the Meteoritical Bulletins (a prime source of information), whereas private possessors are often undisclosed. Best regards, Jörn Koblitz MetBase editor -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Auftrag von Mike Fowler Gesendet: Donnerstag, 9. März 2006 01:13 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Cc: Mike Fowler Betreff: [meteorite-list] Collections in MetBase Alex, Thanks for taking the time to post re my question. I realize that I could have emailed Joern Koblitz myself for the answer, but I figured there would be many besides myself who would probably be curious to know the answer. Mike In February David Weir wrote about the MetBase Library and how his collection is included in it. I was wondering how many private collections are included in MetBase and how big it has to be, to be included? The person to answer this with more competence than me is the author of MetBase himself, Joern Koblitz (koblitz at microfab.de). He probably is a member of this list and will let you know all the facts in more detail than I can do here. But for the sake of a quick late night (local time) answer from Europe: there is no lower limit for a private collection to be included, in fact there are many collections with only 1 meteorite in them :-). Then again, in my last version of the program I count 236 entries with 10 or more meteorites in the collection, and a new version seems to be at the doorstep. Joern will add to this, when he reads it. As I said in one of my earlier mails, these private collection data represent nothing but a snapshot in space and time, which is obvious since we live in an ever changing world - and collector X´s collection data provided for publication in say 2002 will most probably have changed by now. But nonetheless you will at least have sort of a good overview here, and postal addresses of the collectors are included, which is a value by itself. What are the criteria for being included, and how do you get a collection included? Just contact Joern at koblitz at microfab.de, and (afaik) sending your collection summary (meteorite names and weights) will be all that is needed to get an entry with the next update. Alex Berlin/Germany __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Bernd's Collection Lepidopterist
GREAT photos Thanks, Michael on 3/8/06 2:22 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hola Michael, Believe it or not !! I was interested in Lepidopterans long before the digital revolution. I still haven't migrated from the robust capabilities of the film camera and lens configurations, film stillnhas this nice depth and familiarity.So, the tens of thousands of positive transparencies in my collection are slowly fading away and not for general consumption, except an ocassional one that wins a photo contest, or gets published. I guess I could get a scanner, I wanted an excellent one for a long time, but budget, budget, budget. It is a lot of work that I have no desire to do. I do have a great set of bellows and slide duplicating setup with special slide duplicating (negative) film. I bought 10 rolls 10 years ago and still have 8 of them unused and long expired. So that is why I don't bother... Ocassionally I'll put a slide into my 10 year old $50 scanner with awful results. So here is what I can scrape together aftermuch effort for anyone interested in what an eccentric amateur Lepidopterist does in his spare time. A link to a page prepared especially for (1) first, and foremost Pauline and Bernd, and friends (like fellow comedians Martin and Michael). Enjoy and be offended if you wish, it's the latest web page to get the inside scoop on Lepidopterists. Bernd is quite generous, I'm still an amateur's amateur. Vladimir Nabokov was a true amateur and immortalized Lepidopterists in his spoof on butterfly life cycles disguised as the acclaimed ocassionally disturbing novel, Lolita. All of the true amateurs of his generation are in the book, but I didn't make it. Time is ripe to write a book on meteorite folk, though, so watch out guys (and gals). Pauline and Bernd (Happy Anniversary) and Lepidopterist's page (copyrighted, please, no reproduction priviledges granted except to the Leps): http://www.diogenite.com/lepidopterist.html Sorry for the terrible resolutions. Didgeridoo! Doug Michael B. writes: OK, All kidding aside - sound VERY interesting. Do you have a photo web site where we can see the photos you have taken? (If not, please contact me and I will turn you onto a free photo hosting site that is VERY easy to use). WHERE DO WE GO TO SEE THESE BEAUTIES? Best wishes, Michael on 3/7/06 11:30 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Doug wrote: believe it or not, I am a Lepidopterist, well at least an amateur for many years! Believe it or not, this is a modest understatement. Doug even found and photographed close-up a beautiful LadyPau butterfly for my Pauline! Believe it or not, tomorrow will mark the thirty-eighth year of this lovely winged creature in my collection ! Lepidopterologically, Bernd :-) -- He is not a lover who does not love forever. - Euripides (485-406BC) -- * If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him? __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] velocity of fall of PF
Dear Geoff and Met List, After thinking more about my reply to your question I wish to apologize if I appeared rude. This was not my intent. Perhaps your question can be answered indirectly IF soil conditions and any penetrations (craters) were observed. Most likely too late. Another possible means would to find a rock of a similar structure and hardness and IF there were any broken PF mets duplicate how much force it would take to break the stone. These are the only ways that I can think of to perhaps estimate the velocity of fall for PF. I hope this helps in your question. Sincerely, Dirk Ross...Tokyo This would make a good research paper for someone with the time to do the research. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] 2007 Planetary Defense Conference
http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/index.html 2007 Planetary Defense Conference March 5-8, 2007 George Washington University Washington, D.C. The objective of the conference is to develop a white paper that assesses the current state of our ability to discover and track near earth objects (NEOs - objects that could possibly impact Earth) and our ability to successfully deflect a threatening object should one be detected. Included will be recommendations on: * What must be done to enhance our ability to discover threatening objects? * What sizes of objects pose the greatest threat and what are the options available for deflecting an object? * How can a deflection mission be designed to ensure the highest probability of success? * What political, policy, and legal actions would be required? * How public confidence in our ability to mount a successful mitigation mission can be enhanced? * How should we prepare for and respond to an impact-related disaster? The conference will follow a systems approach to planetary defense, similar to that followed for the 2004 Planetary Defense Conference (see www.planetarydefense.info). Topics to be discussed include: * Current activities and status of efforts to discover and track NEOs, asteroids and comets that cross the Earth's orbit and could one day be a threat. * Updates from Deep Impact and other recent missions. * How a NEO impact might affect Earth and our environment and how the risk varies as a function of object size. * The engineering aspects of the problem - what are our options for deflecting an oncoming body? * What would a deflection mission look like? What can we do if an object on a collision course is discovered today? * What are critical nonengineering aspects of the problem? How would we prepare the public for an impact or a mitigation mission? What are the political, policy, and legal issues that would affect the approval and execution of a mission? How should we prepare for and respond to a disaster of this type? * How should international activities and capabilities be coordinated and incorporated into an overall deflection effort? Sponsors include The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The Aerospace Corporation, Space Science Institute. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] velocity of fall of PF
If I understood the original question correctly, the issue isn't the speed of the meteorites at the time they fell (which was presumably just the well understood terminal velocity for objects of their mass, size, and shape), but whether the entry velocity was higher than usual for a body that produces meteorites. It is generally accepted that meteorites are most likely to be produced when the parent is on a shallow entry angle, and traveling at the lower end of the possible speed range. Chris * Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com - Original Message - From: drtanuki [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Geoff Notkin [EMAIL PROTECTED]; meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 9:36 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] velocity of fall of PF Dear Geoff and Met List, After thinking more about my reply to your question I wish to apologize if I appeared rude. This was not my intent. Perhaps your question can be answered indirectly IF soil conditions and any penetrations (craters) were observed. Most likely too late. Another possible means would to find a rock of a similar structure and hardness and IF there were any broken PF mets duplicate how much force it would take to break the stone. These are the only ways that I can think of to perhaps estimate the velocity of fall for PF. I hope this helps in your question. Sincerely, Dirk Ross...Tokyo This would make a good research paper for someone with the time to do the research. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planet's Detox?
Press and Publications Office University of Leicester Leicester, U.K. 09/03/2006 Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planet's Detox? University scientists suggest extraterrestrial theories are flawed and that more down to earth factors could have accounted for past mass extinctions Earth history has been punctuated by several mass extinctions rapidly wiping out nearly all life forms on our planet. What causes these catastrophic events? Are they really due to meteorite impacts? Current research suggests that the cause may come from within our own planet -- the eruption of vast amounts of lava that brings a cocktail of gases from deep inside the Earth and vents them into the atmosphere. University of Leicester geologists, Professor Andy Saunders and Dr Marc Reichow, are taking a fresh look at what may actually have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and caused other similarly cataclysmic events, aware they may end up exploding a few popular myths. The idea that meteorite impacts caused mass extinctions has been in vogue over the last 25 years, since Louis Alverez's research team in Berkeley, California published their work about an extraterrestrial iridium anomaly found in 65-million-year-old layers at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This anomaly only could be explained by an extraterrestrial source, a large meteorite, hitting the Earth and ultimately wiping the dinosaurs -- and many other organisms -- off the Earth's surface. Professor Saunders commented: Impacts are suitably apocalyptic. They are the stuff of Hollywood. It seems that every kid's dinosaur book ends with a bang. But are they the real killers and are they solely responsible for every mass extinction on earth? There is scant evidence of impacts at the time of other major extinctions e.g., at the end of the Permian, 250 million years ago, and at the end of the Triassic, 200 million years ago. The evidence that has been found does not seem large enough to have triggered an extinction at these times. Flood basalt eruptions are -- he says -- an alternative kill mechanism. These do correspond with all main mass extinctions, within error of the techniques used to determine the age of the volcanism. Furthermore, they may have released enough greenhouse gases (SO2 and CO2) to dramatically change the climate. The largest flood basalts on Earth (Siberian Traps and Deccan Traps) coincide with the largest extinctions (end-Permian, and end-Cretaceous). Pure coincidence?, ask Saunders and Reichow. While this is unlikely to be pure chance, the Leicester researchers are interested in precisely what the kill mechanism may be. One possibility is that the gases released by volcanic activity lead to a prolonged volcanic winter induced by sulphur-rich aerosols, followed by a period of CO2-induced warming. Professor Andy Saunders and Dr. Marc Reichow at Leicester, in collaboration with Anthony Cohen, Steve Self, and Mike Widdowson at the Open University, have recently been awarded a NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) grant to study the Siberian Traps and their environmental impact. The Siberian Traps are the largest known continental flood basalt province. Erupted about 250 million years ago at high latitude in the northern hemisphere, they are one of many known flood basalts provinces -- vast outpourings of lava that covered large areas of the Earth's surface. A major debate is underway concerning the origin of these provinces -- including the Siberian Traps -- and their environmental impact. Using radiometric dating techniques, they hope to constrain the age and, combined with geochemical analysis, the extent, of the Siberian Traps. Measuring how much gas was released during these eruptions 250 million years ago is a considerable challenge. The researchers will study microscopic inclusions trapped in minerals of the Siberian Traps rocks to estimate the original gas contents. Using these data they hope to be able to assess the amount of SO2 and CO2 released into the atmosphere 250 million years ago, and whether or not this caused climatic havoc, wiping out nearly all life on earth. By studying the composition of sedimentary rocks laid down at the time of the mass extinction, they also hope to detect changes to seawater chemistry that resulted from major changes in climate. From these data Professor Saunders and his team hope to link the volcanism to the extinction event. He explained: If we can show, for example, that the full extent of the Siberian Traps was erupted at the same time, we can be confident that their environmental effects were powerful. Understanding the actual kill mechanism is the next stage ... watch this space. More information is available from the website: http://www.le.ac.uk/gl/ads/SiberianTraps/Index.html Note to editors: Further information is available from Professor Andy Saunders, Department of Geology, University of
[meteorite-list] Re: claimed meteorite fall in Bangladesh
Thanks to Ed Cannon. Here's a news story about the same event: http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/news/feb/15/15022006ft.htm Fireball of meteorite astonishes Shingpara villagers The Independent (Bangladesh) February 15, 2006 People of Shingpara village in Thakurgaon were astonished after hearing a meteorite's falling sound on 31 January. The unknown village is situated in the north-west district of the country, 500 km away from the capital city Dhaka. Villagers thought a fireball dropped on the ground after creating some weird sound for a while. It made 3.5ft deep hole when it hit on the earth surface. Then surprised people informed nearest police station about its dropping with a bang. Police brought it to the police station to secure it from interface of other. Before the villagers thought it was a mortal shell from other side of Indian border. At the time of bomb blasts they were also afraid of bomb hurling at the villagers. Besides, local goldsmiths made another confusion among the people by claiming the matter is a rare expensive black stone. Immediate after hearing the news a five-member astronomy group of Anushandhitshu Chokro Science Organisation rushed to the place to investigate the sudden occurrence. After proper observation, the observation team confirmed it as a meteorite. Some information they stated bellow: Weight: 2.5 K.G. Height: 12.5 cm Element: Stony Iron Police were thinking either they will hand over the meteorite to Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission or National Science Museum. Finally Atomic Energy Commission will carry out research and experiment on the sky body. A meteorite is a small extraterrestrial body that impacts often the Earth's surface. While in space they are called meteoroids, and while falling through Earth's atmosphere they are called meteors. These are small asteroids, approximately boulder-sized or less. When it enters the atmosphere, air drag and friction cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball or shooting star. More generally, a meteorite on a celestial body is a small body that has come from elsewhere in space. Most meteors disintegrate when entering the Earth's atmosphere, making impacts events (Earth impacts) on the surface uncommon. About 500 baseball-sized rocks reach the surface each year. Large meteorites may strike the ground with considerable force, leaving behind an impact crater. The kind of crater will depend on the size, composition, degree of fragmentation, and incoming angle of the meteor. The force of collision may cause widespread destruction. One theory stipulates that a large meteorite impact caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. It is also theorised that meteorites caused other mass extinction events as well throughout the history of the earth. Across the world there are many collectors and organisation, which are collecting meteorite for several purposes. Research and busyness on the sky object are going on noticeably in the developed world. Unfortunately meteorite recording process almost absent in the country. Although five decades ago there was a department to enlist falling sky objects in the book. [snip] __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planet's Detox?
I didn't think this was a new idea. In fact there have been TV drama/documentaries (docudramas) made about the possibility of Yellowstone doing precisely this. I think it was caled Supervolcano or something similar. There is also the predicted impact frequency to think about for meteorites of about that size. They keep saying we're overdue the next one (every 50million years or so). Think about it, though. The dinosaurs were around for 150 million years so this means they survived at least 1 (statistically more), they also had a stay of execution much longer than our own currently is or we have our size distributions horribly wrong. Now I don't think its the third one, I've seen the numbers and the second is not likely either. Both those being the case, we need a different explanation. Besides which, isn't there evidence that dinosaurs survived for several million years after the iridium layer was layed down 65Ma? As an aviation enthusiast, I have noticed that air disasters are rarely the result of one error. There's usually a catalogue which leads to catastrophe. Is it not likely that many mass extinctions are due to a similar thing? If the geologists are right, the 65Ma mass extinctions were small compared to one of the earlier ones where over 90% of all species vanished. That somehow seems significant, though quite why eludes me. Rob McC --- Ron Baalke [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Press and Publications Office University of Leicester Leicester, U.K. 09/03/2006 Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planet's Detox? University scientists suggest extraterrestrial theories are flawed and that more down to earth factors could have accounted for past mass extinctions Earth history has been punctuated by several mass extinctions rapidly wiping out nearly all life forms on our planet. What causes these catastrophic events? Are they really due to meteorite impacts? Current research suggests that the cause may come from within our own planet -- the eruption of vast amounts of lava that brings a cocktail of gases from deep inside the Earth and vents them into the atmosphere. University of Leicester geologists, Professor Andy Saunders and Dr Marc Reichow, are taking a fresh look at what may actually have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and caused other similarly cataclysmic events, aware they may end up exploding a few popular myths. The idea that meteorite impacts caused mass extinctions has been in vogue over the last 25 years, since Louis Alverez's research team in Berkeley, California published their work about an extraterrestrial iridium anomaly found in 65-million-year-old layers at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This anomaly only could be explained by an extraterrestrial source, a large meteorite, hitting the Earth and ultimately wiping the dinosaurs -- and many other organisms -- off the Earth's surface. Professor Saunders commented: Impacts are suitably apocalyptic. They are the stuff of Hollywood. It seems that every kid's dinosaur book ends with a bang. But are they the real killers and are they solely responsible for every mass extinction on earth? There is scant evidence of impacts at the time of other major extinctions e.g., at the end of the Permian, 250 million years ago, and at the end of the Triassic, 200 million years ago. The evidence that has been found does not seem large enough to have triggered an extinction at these times. Flood basalt eruptions are -- he says -- an alternative kill mechanism. These do correspond with all main mass extinctions, within error of the techniques used to determine the age of the volcanism. Furthermore, they may have released enough greenhouse gases (SO2 and CO2) to dramatically change the climate. The largest flood basalts on Earth (Siberian Traps and Deccan Traps) coincide with the largest extinctions (end-Permian, and end-Cretaceous). Pure coincidence?, ask Saunders and Reichow. While this is unlikely to be pure chance, the Leicester researchers are interested in precisely what the kill mechanism may be. One possibility is that the gases released by volcanic activity lead to a prolonged volcanic winter induced by sulphur-rich aerosols, followed by a period of CO2-induced warming. Professor Andy Saunders and Dr. Marc Reichow at Leicester, in collaboration with Anthony Cohen, Steve Self, and Mike Widdowson at the Open University, have recently been awarded a NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) grant to study the Siberian Traps and their environmental impact. The Siberian Traps are the largest known continental flood basalt province. Erupted about 250 million years ago at high latitude in the northern hemisphere, they are one of many known flood basalts provinces -- vast outpourings of lava that covered large areas of the Earth's surface. A major
Re: [meteorite-list] Re: claimed meteorite fall in Bangladesh
On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 09:00:06 -0800 (PST), you wrote: Before the villagers thought it was a mortal shell from other side of As opposed to an immortal shell? Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission or National Science Museum. Finally Atomic Energy Commission will carry out research and experiment on the sky body. Why would the Atomic Energy Commission care about meteorites? If I found a meteorite, my local nuclear power station would be one of the last places I'd think to take it. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] NASA's Cassini Discovers Potential Liquid Water on Enceladus
March 9, 2006 Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington (202) 358-1237/1726 Carolina Martinez Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (818) 354-9382 RELEASE: 06-088 NASA'S CASSINI DISCOVERS POTENTIAL LIQUID WATER ON ENCELADUS NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon. We realize that this is a radical conclusion - that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold, said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms. High-resolution Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting large quantities of particles at high speed. Scientists examined several models to explain the process. They ruled out the idea the particles are produced or blown off the moon's surface by vapor created when warm water ice converts to a gas. Instead, scientists have found evidence for a much more exciting possibility. The jets might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), like cold versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone. We previously knew of at most three places where active volcanism exists: Jupiter's moon Io, Earth, and possibly Neptune's moon Triton. Cassini changed all that, making Enceladus the latest member of this very exclusive club, and one of the most exciting places in the solar system, said John Spencer, Cassini scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder. Other moons in the solar system have liquid-water oceans covered by kilometers of icy crust, said Andrew Ingersoll, imaging team member and atmospheric scientist at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. What's different here is that pockets of liquid water may be no more than tens of meters below the surface. As Cassini approached Saturn, we discovered the Saturnian system is filled with oxygen atoms. At the time we had no idea where the oxygen was coming from, said Candy Hansen, Cassini scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. Now we know Enceladus is spewing out water molecules, which break down into oxygen and hydrogen. Scientists still have many questions. Why is Enceladus so active? Are other sites on Enceladus active? Might this activity have been continuous enough over the moon's history for life to have had a chance to take hold in the moon's interior? In the spring of 2008, scientists will get another chance to look at Enceladus when Cassini flies within 350 kilometers (approximately 220 miles), but much work remains after the spacecraft's four-year prime mission is over. There's no question, along with the moon Titan, Enceladus should be a very high priority for us. Saturn has given us two exciting worlds to explore, said Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. Mission scientists report these and other Enceladus findings in this week's issue of Science. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. For Cassini images and information about the research on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home http://www.nasa.gov/home -end- __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Ad- NWA4042 rare achondrite, smaller pieces
Dear List Members, a few months ago I had introduced a new achondrite NWA4042 (achondrite, ungrouped). At this time were available only full slices and I had some inquiries of collectors whether also smaller slices are available. Recently I had cut the larger remaining slices to smaller part slices. And now some less expensive pieces are available (most pieces below $200). The pieces on the following web page are all what is available of NWA 4042. The meteorite was bought in 2003 in Morocco and I havn`t seen any additional piece of this meteorite. NWA 4042 belongs certainly to the rarest meteorites. Meanwhile it can also be found in the data base of the meteoritical society and will appear in the next meteoritical bulletin number 90. http://www.meteoriten.com/special.html Best wishes, Stefan Ralew SR-Meteorites Berlin / Germany Website url: www.meteoriten.com emailaddress: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Monze Meteorite: Behind the Scene Notes
Mark B. writes: I have recently communicated with Michael Lambert, son of Hugh Henry John Lambert, who wrote The Monze Meteorite published in The Northern Rhodesia Journal, Volume I - No. 4 - 1951... ... Slight editing has been done, but it is pretty much complete as I received it. I am writing the mother, who is still alive, to see if she has any other insight she might add. Mark, Thank for your original research/perseverance on this important meteorite, for the additions, and to kindly keep us all apprised of your progress as you may learn more from the lucid living of this now 56 year old event. The article you have posted on your website may have suffered a bit in character recognition in more than one way. It left me with doubts my stereotype of Chief Chongo was with his precise name. Was he Chief Chongo, Chief Congo, or the Chief of Congo, Chief of the Chongo people or was that a village, region, or even country name etc.? This is more than an amusing question for me, because Chief Chongo, in my book, has related an incredibly detailed and apparently accurate account from his hut - better than I have come to expect from modern sheriffs and constables and other authorities in other less superstitious countries. The report is nothing less than amazing. So amazing it is, and not to question the prowess of the Chief who has earned a first prize - I'd be really curious how much, if any, the author may have coached the Chief, or taken literary license, etc., in capsuling the work originally. I'm betting the Chief was sharp as a tack, but when bringing the Chief's story to life in one's imagination you have to recognize its uncanniness. Anyways, thanks, and for those who want to browse Mark's original reproduction, here's the link again on his website: http://www.meteoritearticles.com/colmonze.html Saludos, Doug __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space orOur Own Planet's Detox?
Hi Rob and List Actually, as far as I know (reading and specific tv documentaries by paleontologists), there isn't a dinosaur fossil within 100K years or more of the iridium layer, that's before it was laid down. The exceptions are the birds. And that's another story. But, all the data collected on a mass extinction at 65 mya is based largely on micro-marine fossils. The work on these fossils had been done by many different geology types, and the data they provide is then picked up by astro-physicists who calculate the numbers required to satisfy what they want to see. One team even goes so far as to say that the energy released 65 mya at Chixulube, was enough to blow off the ozone layer 1000 times over. I did ask them, With so much energy released, how did any life form survive? and I got, ..well, the animals that could survive underwater or burrow would have survived. hmmm, I then asked them how deep a burrow and for how long would they have had to stay in it and what about plants? They didn't answer. All the impactor killed the dinosaur theories are based on one point of view. That of the dinosaurs dying out because of an impactor with little thought how anything else survived or why anything else survived. Except, of course, for the micro-marine organisms which all died out world wide also. There is no evidence what so ever that any dinosaurs died as a result of the Chixulube impact event. It is all fabrication on the part of non-paleontological scientists because of that nice number which divides the Cretaceous from the Paleocene. Mark Ferguson - Original Message - From: Rob McCafferty [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 12:31 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space orOur Own Planet's Detox? I didn't think this was a new idea. In fact there have been TV drama/documentaries (docudramas) made about the possibility of Yellowstone doing precisely this. I think it was caled Supervolcano or something similar. There is also the predicted impact frequency to think about for meteorites of about that size. They keep saying we're overdue the next one (every 50million years or so). Think about it, though. The dinosaurs were around for 150 million years so this means they survived at least 1 (statistically more), they also had a stay of execution much longer than our own currently is or we have our size distributions horribly wrong. Now I don't think its the third one, I've seen the numbers and the second is not likely either. Both those being the case, we need a different explanation. Besides which, isn't there evidence that dinosaurs survived for several million years after the iridium layer was layed down 65Ma? As an aviation enthusiast, I have noticed that air disasters are rarely the result of one error. There's usually a catalogue which leads to catastrophe. Is it not likely that many mass extinctions are due to a similar thing? If the geologists are right, the 65Ma mass extinctions were small compared to one of the earlier ones where over 90% of all species vanished. That somehow seems significant, though quite why eludes me. Rob McC --- Ron Baalke [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Press and Publications Office University of Leicester Leicester, U.K. 09/03/2006 Mass Extinctions -- A Threat from Outer Space or Our Own Planet's Detox? University scientists suggest extraterrestrial theories are flawed and that more down to earth factors could have accounted for past mass extinctions Earth history has been punctuated by several mass extinctions rapidly wiping out nearly all life forms on our planet. What causes these catastrophic events? Are they really due to meteorite impacts? Current research suggests that the cause may come from within our own planet -- the eruption of vast amounts of lava that brings a cocktail of gases from deep inside the Earth and vents them into the atmosphere. University of Leicester geologists, Professor Andy Saunders and Dr Marc Reichow, are taking a fresh look at what may actually have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and caused other similarly cataclysmic events, aware they may end up exploding a few popular myths. The idea that meteorite impacts caused mass extinctions has been in vogue over the last 25 years, since Louis Alverez's research team in Berkeley, California published their work about an extraterrestrial iridium anomaly found in 65-million-year-old layers at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This anomaly only could be explained by an extraterrestrial source, a large meteorite, hitting the Earth and ultimately wiping the dinosaurs -- and many other organisms -- off the Earth's surface. Professor Saunders commented: Impacts are suitably apocalyptic. They are the stuff of Hollywood. It seems that every kid's dinosaur book ends with a bang. But are they the real killers and are they solely
[meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide
Dear List Members, I have been going through the material I brought back from my Morocco trip last week. Here are some photos of some very nice fresh chondrites, an unusual thing these days coming out of Morocco. There are two pictures of some very good examples of Slick-n-Slide also. I have not seen chondrites this nice for a long time out of the Sahara. 4170 gram Large and Fresh Thumb Printed chondrite - VERY COOL !! http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc1.jpg 140 gram Individual - Neat Shape http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00013.jpg 122.7 gram Slick-n-Slide (Best Example I have Seen for a Long Time) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00023.jpg 25.6 gram Slick-n-Slide (Unfortunately broke during airplane ride home) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00025.jpg Hope you enjoy the pictures. Best regards, Greg Hupe The Hupe Collection NaturesVault (eBay) [EMAIL PROTECTED] IMCA 3163 __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide
Greg all, Nice specimens. Just a minor side point: the term is slickensides for the striated, movement-polished surface itself, or slickensided for a rock showing slickensides. Your version is a common, but erroneous, transliteration. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear List Members, I have been going through the material I brought back from my Morocco trip last week. Here are some photos of some very nice fresh chondrites, an unusual thing these days coming out of Morocco. There are two pictures of some very good examples of Slick-n-Slide also. I have not seen chondrites this nice for a long time out of the Sahara. 4170 gram Large and Fresh Thumb Printed chondrite - VERY COOL !! http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc1.jpg 140 gram Individual - Neat Shape http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00013.jpg 122.7 gram Slick-n-Slide (Best Example I have Seen for a Long Time) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00023.jpg 25.6 gram Slick-n-Slide (Unfortunately broke during airplane ride home) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00025.jpg Hope you enjoy the pictures. Best regards, Greg Hupe The Hupe Collection NaturesVault (eBay) [EMAIL PROTECTED] IMCA 3163 __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Largest Crater in the Sahara Desert and LDG -- ONE MORE ...
Hola Sterling, and thank you for the gracious email. Hopefully this gas cooled down; I won't go for another round on this one now, I promise. I pray the tektite debate won't continue until after we are dust, but in some places, probably you are dead right there. I've always thought that one of the great advantages of American education's system is the frequently criticized postal service and open communications in research, plus the Universities' quickness to pay for the postage of its faculty members without too many questions, and the researchers desire to share their work with other professionals and neophytes alike. I'm really sad you don't have the access level you'd like, it reminds me of our situation in Mexico - So far from God, but so near to the USA. Thankfully, ten-year old Meteoritics full text articles are usually available from the Harvard NASA Smithsonian ADS service, so at least you can see et. al. including Dr. Koeberl's original article there: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992Metic..27R.298Tl ink_type=GIFdb_key=AST Oops wrong one. This particular article is a provocative one though for another thread, with much more application that it ever dreamed and a lively subject for discussion where some meteoritical forensics can actually weigh in on these disputes. So that you are properly armed and dangerous next time, here's the right link to Dr. Koeberl's article we discussed: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991Metic..26...41Md b_key=ASTlink_type=ARTICLE As far as Guy Heinen's book, your second hand source, all I can say is that it is a superb collection of information under one roof, but as you can see, despite all their efforts, the translation probably has some issues, and as you found out, the table and conclusions were not very clear. And the paper actually was more of a study of the Zhamanshin Crater, its source rock, and tektite-like Irghizites and then a suggested path to pursue bigger problems. Amazing, considering Dr. Koeberl helped edit the book, but I promised not to get into this, and the researchers are all good ones. At least I can take solace now in the fact that the cosmo- and geochemists weren't really in a conspiracy to get me*, it was just a very motivated amateur astronomer who teaches elementary school in his paid time. He sounds like he could be a very welcomed asset to out discussion group, though I don't know him personally!! I completely agree with you regarding the clues in Fluorine, whether alone or with Boron, so I can't really add anything to what you've already said there, other than clues being relatively common, but true conclusions and generalizations are so darned elusive. *Did I mention I am a lowly physical chemist? Lowly, because at least here in Mexico, we can't seem to get much respect from the geologists. It is really a sad situation but there is a distinct bias you could cut with a knife. And even the most prolific and one of the most distinguished Geologist of our State University's Geology Department is actually a Chemist like me, and he still get's a Rodney Dangerfield... Saludos and best wishes, Doug __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide
Hi Norm, Thanks for the correct, I knew I was close but not quite correct. Take care, Greg - Original Message - From: Norm Lehrman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED]; meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 4:18 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide Greg all, Nice specimens. Just a minor side point: the term is slickensides for the striated, movement-polished surface itself, or slickensided for a rock showing slickensides. Your version is a common, but erroneous, transliteration. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear List Members, I have been going through the material I brought back from my Morocco trip last week. Here are some photos of some very nice fresh chondrites, an unusual thing these days coming out of Morocco. There are two pictures of some very good examples of Slick-n-Slide also. I have not seen chondrites this nice for a long time out of the Sahara. 4170 gram Large and Fresh Thumb Printed chondrite - VERY COOL !! http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc1.jpg 140 gram Individual - Neat Shape http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00013.jpg 122.7 gram Slick-n-Slide (Best Example I have Seen for a Long Time) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00023.jpg 25.6 gram Slick-n-Slide (Unfortunately broke during airplane ride home) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00025.jpg Hope you enjoy the pictures. Best regards, Greg Hupe The Hupe Collection NaturesVault (eBay) [EMAIL PROTECTED] IMCA 3163 __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Scientists Hope Comet Dust Will Give Numerous Insights (Stardust)
http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/6766.html Scientists hope comet dust will give numerous insights By Susan Killenberg McGinn Record, Vol. 30, No. 25 Washington University in St. Louis March 10, 2006 It's a short elevator ride to the fourth floor of Compton Hall - home of the Laboratory for Space Sciences in Arts Sciences - but once there, you enter another world - one that contains samples that are literally from out of this world. Researchers in the Laboratory for Space Sciences were some of the first to receive lunar samples from the first moon landing by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 and all subsequent successful Apollo missions through Apollo 17 in 1972. And now, 34 years later, the same laboratory is once again among the first in the world to receive samples from a NASA mission - this time microscopic specks of cometary and interstellar dust particles collected on the Stardust spacecraft. Frank J. Stadermann, Ph.D., senior research scientist in physics in Arts Sciences and member of the Laboratory for Space Sciences, is an adviser for the Stardust mission. The Laboratory for Space Sciences is part of the departments of Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences and the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, all in Arts Sciences. Scientists hope the Stardust mission will provide answers to fundamental questions about comets, the origin of the solar system and possibly even the origin of life itself. Comets are believed to be the oldest, most primitive bodies in the solar system. While most people were soundly sleeping at 3:45 a.m. Jan. 15, Stadermann was anxiously checking his home computer for news of the safe landing of Stardust's sample capsule. When it touched down on the Utah salt flats after a seven-year, 2.88 billion-mile round trip, it marked the first U.S. mission since Apollo 17 to bring back solid bits of extraterrestrial material. Two days later, Stadermann was in Houston at NASA's Johnson Space Center, dressed from head to foot in a protective clean suit to be among the first 15 people to see the content of the sealed canister holding the mission's much-anticipated cargo. Stadermann said the scientists let out a hearty cheer when the canister was opened and they could see that the tennis-racket-sized collector on board the robotic Stardust spacecraft did what it was supposed to do - trap a treasure trove of never-before retrieved cometary material, some of which may be older than the solar system. Stardust also captured, on the collector's backside, interstellar dust - submicrometer-sized particles that have recently entered the solar system from interstellar space. Launched Feb. 7, 1999, Stardust sped through the tail of comet Wild 2 at 15,000 miles per hour on Jan. 2, 2004. For 15 minutes, the spacecraft extended the honeycomb-like collector, capturing cometary dust grains in 132 ice-cube-sized cells made of aerogel, a silicon-based solid that is 99.8 percent air and resembles frozen pale-blue smoke. Particles - each much smaller than a grain of sand - from six of the collector's cells have been extracted and sliced up and are being disbursed to 50 labs around the world for analysis. Of those 50 labs, which are called preliminary examination teams, three are at WUSTL. Working with Stadermann will be Ernst K. Zinner, Ph.D., research professor of physics and of earth and planetary sciences; Christine Floss, Ph.D., senior research scientist in earth and planetary sciences and in physics; and Kuljeet Marhas, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate in physics. In late February, Stadermann received his team's first cometary material - three slices of one particle. The team is analyzing the particle's elemental and isotopic composition in WUSTL's state-of-the art ion probe, the NanoSIMS (SIMS is short for Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer). A metal frame lined with aluminum foil held the aerogel cells together. Stadermann also received three half-inch pieces of the frame to study impact craters in the aluminum foil from the particles. Our research group has been studying similar types of extraterrestrial material for many years, so we have some expectations of what's in these particles, Stadermann said. Comets are basically cosmic refrigerators preserving material for a very long time. The Stardust samples are preserved from the early days of our solar system - 4.5 billion years ago. The expectation is that some of this cometary material is actually older than our solar system, Stadermann continued. What we hope to find in there are the building blocks of our solar system, from which everything around us - the sun, the planets, the moon and the other components of the solar system - was originally formed. The NanoSIMS, which Stadermann and Zinner helped design and test, can resolve objects as small as 50 nanometers - or one thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The first NanoSIMS instrument in the world was purchased by WUSTL in 2000 for $2
[meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay.
Matteo was thrown off of eBay again today. Anyone know why? Mike Farmer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] SMART-1's View of Mayer and Bond Craters Reshaped by Lava and Debris
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMREBNVGJE_index_0.html SMART-1's view of Mayer and Bond craters reshaped by lava and debris European Space Agency 9 March 2006 This composite image, obtained by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows a nice scene near the Moon terminator (the line separating lunar day and night). Low solar elevation on the landscape produces long shadows of several craters reshaped by lava, debris and erosion, and other geological features. The AMIE camera obtained the snapshot images on 5 and 6 February 2006, from altitudes ranging between 2685 km (bottom of the composite) and 2709 km (top). Each individual snapshot, taken with the AMIE clear filter, is a square of about 135 kilometres per side. The whole composite covers approximately 270 square kilometres. On the lower right it is possible to see C. Mayer, a complex impact crater 38 kilometres in diameter, located not far away from the northern edge of the Mare Frigoris (63.2° N, 17.3° E). This crater was formed in relatively recent times. Ejected material is visible around the crater as a smooth hilly area. Terraces formed during the crater collapse can be seen in the inner walls of its sharp-edged rim - an almost polygon-shaped feature - and the crater's interior is rough and irregular. The illuminated central peak appears very clearly. The lava formation attached to the south-eastern rim of the crater is of particular interest. [Areas of AMIE's observations] On the left of the image is W. Bond, today an irregular walled plain of about 156 kilometres in diameter (5.3° N, 4.5° E). The outer rim of the original W. Bond crater has been eroded and reshaped, and now it basically consists of an outline of hills and mounts. The interior floor is relatively flat in comparison with the rim region, although there are sections of rough terrain near the northern rim. In the centre of the walled plain is a narrow ditch that runs toward east. To the southeast of this formation is 'W. Bond B', a circular, simple bowl-shaped crater. It is interesting to see the contrast between the rough texture of W. Bond (left of the image) and the smooth surface of the plains at the centre of the image. The floor of the large crater W. Bond is littered with scattered blocks, likely originating from ejecta from the impact that created the Imbrium basin. The original W.Bond crater must have been filled to a depth of about 2 km, and then cut by the ditch. This provides a rare example of a linear ditch that cuts the ejecta generated by an impact basin. For more information: Jean-Luc Josset SPACE-X Space Exploration Institute E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bernard H. Foing ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Cassini Images of Enceladus Suggest Geysers Erupt Liquid Water at the Moon's South Pole
University Communications University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona UA contacts on this research: Alfred McEwen, 520-626-4573 Elizabeth Turtle, 520-621-8284 Jason Perry, 520-626-0760 March 09, 2006 Cassini Images of Enceladus Suggest Geysers Erupt Liquid Water at the Moon's South Pole By Preston Dyches, CICLOPS/Space Science Institute, Boulder Images returned from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have yielded evidence that the geologically young south polar region of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus may possess reservoirs of near-surface liquid water that erupt to form geysers of the kind found in Yellowstone National Park. This finding and others are being reported today by the Cassini Imaging Science Team in the journal Science. We realize that this is a radical conclusion -- that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold, said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., and the lead author of the Science report. However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms. It doesn't get any more exciting than this. Dr. Alfred McEwen, Dr. Elizabeth Turtle and Jason Perry of The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory are co-authors on the article. McEwen is a member of the Cassini Imaging Science Team. High resolution Cassini images showing the icy jets, and the towering plume they create, reveal the abundance of the constituent particles and the speed at which they are being ejected from Enceladus. These results indicate that there are far too many particles being released from the south pole of Enceladus for the source to be merely frozen mist condensing out of a plume of water vapor, or particles that have been blown off Enceladus by jets of water vapor arising from warm ice. Instead, they have found a much more exciting possibility: the jets may be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), like cold versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone. There are other moons in the solar system that have liquid water oceans covered by kilometers of icy crust, said Dr. Andrew Ingersoll, an atmospheric scientist and a co-author on the paper in Science. What's different here is that pockets of liquid water may be no more than ten meters below the surface. In the near-vacuum conditions at the moon's surface, liquid water would boil away into space, erupting forcefully into the void and carrying particles of ice and liquid water along with the vapor. Analysis of the jets and plumes indicate that most of the particles eventually fall back to the surface, giving the moon's south pole its extremely bright veneer. Those that escape the moon's gravity go into orbit around Saturn, forming the E ring. Cassini images have revealed the geology of Enceladus in startling detail, including relaxed craters and extensive surface cracks and folds. Imaging scientists report that the moon has undergone geologic activity over the last four and half billion years up to the present, with the active south pole being the only place where liquid water may currently exists near the surface. Telltale geologic features throughout the southern hemisphere of Enceladus also point to a change in the body's shape with time. Scientists believe these to be related to an episode of intense heating in the moon's past that may, in turn, explain the anomalous warmth and current activity in the south polar region. The sources of this warmth are a major puzzle. Some combination of tidal flexing and heating of the interior by naturally radioactive material may provide the heat to power the geysers, which almost certainly erupt from the narrow, warm fractures, called 'tiger stripes', seen crossing Enceladus' south polar region. However, obtaining enough energy to reproduce the observed heat emanating from the south pole is still a problem. Dr. Torrence Johnson, a satellite expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and a co-author, notes: Active water geysers on little Enceladus are a major surprise. We're still puzzled about the details and energy sources, but what's exciting is that Enceladus obviously figured out how to do it. Now it's up to us to crack the mystery. Images accompanying this release are available at http://ciclops.org http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL.
[meteorite-list] Identifying Gems and Minerals on Earth and Mars
IDENTIFYING GEMS AND MINERALS ON EARTH AND MARS (From Mari N. Jensen, UA Office of University Communications, 520-626-9635) - Thursday, March 9, 2006 Contact information is at the end of this release. - It'll be a snap to identify gemstones once Robert Downs finishes his library of spectral fingerprints for all the Earth's minerals. Downs is almost halfway there. So far, the associate professor of geosciences at The University of Arizona in Tucson has cataloged about 1,500 of the approximately 4,000 known minerals using a technique called Raman spectroscopy. The effort is known as the RRUFF Project. We're developing a tricorder, Downs said, referring to the instrument used on the Star Trek television show that could be waved over materials to identify their chemical composition. Downs' work is destined for space. Although Downs' current Raman spectrometer takes up an area the size of a tabletop, his colleague M. Bonner Denton, a UA professor of chemistry and of geosciences, is developing a pocket-sized Raman spectrometer to be used on the 2009 Mars rover. Downs is collaborating with George Rossman of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena to develop the database of minerals. The technology being developed for Mars will help create handheld instruments for use on Earth. One use for a hand-held instrument would be the identification of gemstones. Downs and Denton will both give presentations on that aspect of the project on Sunday afternoon, March 12, at the 57th Annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (PITTCON 2006). More details about their presentations are at the bottom of this release. Other ways to accurately identify minerals, such as X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe, require grinding a bit of the sample to powder or polishing the sample in a specific manner. However, such rough treatment may not be the method of choice to determine that a glittering gemstone is truly a diamond, rather than just a piece of cubic zirconia. Unlike other methods of identifying minerals, a Raman spectrometer does not require destructive sampling. It shoots a laser beam at the sample. The laser excites atoms within the sample, which then emit a very weak light of a wavelength in a pattern characteristic of the material. It's like a fingerprint, Downs said. The technique is named after Sir C.V. Raman, who won a 1930 Nobel Prize for figuring out the underlying physics. But no Raman spectrometer, big or small, can conclusively identify Mars rocks or any other kinds of minerals without the kind of comprehensive database Downs is creating. When an unknown material is analyzed with a Raman spectrometer, it can be identified by comparing it with reference information from a database. In Downs' lab, a small army of undergraduate researchers is helping complete the RRUFF Project, the first comprehensive database containing the Raman spectra of all the Earth's minerals. The RRUFF project is supported by funding from gemstone connoisseur and collector Michael Scott, founding president of Apple Computer. Scott has a degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology. RRUFF is the name of Scott's cat. NASA provided funding to develop the instrument for the 2009 Mars Rover. Presentation titles, times and locations: Denton and Downs' presentations will be part of the symposium, Gemstone/Mineral Analysis: Developing Non-Destructive Analytical Methods and Assessment Standards for Identification and Classification, held in room 222A of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Denton's 2:55 p.m. presentation, The Present and Future Potential of Raman Spectroscopy in the Characterization of Gems and Minerals, will be followed at 3:15 p.m. by Downs' presentation, The RRUFF Project: Creating an Integrated Database of Oriented Raman Spectra, X-Ray Diffraction and Electron Microprobe Analyses of Minerals. - Contact Information Robert Downs, 520-626-8092, [EMAIL PROTECTED] M. Bonner Denton, 520-621-8246, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Conference Press Room Room 307CD, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. 407-685-4092 March 12, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. March 13-15, 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. March 16, 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Related Web sites: Robert T. Downs http://www.geo.arizona.edu/xtal/group/index.php3?page=home M. Bonner Denton http://www.chem.arizona.edu/faculty/profile/profile.php?fid_call=dent RRUFF Project http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay.
you are happy uh Farmer? No problem, I return at 7 daysproblems with a idiot in the italian ebay forum... Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo was thrown off of eBay again today. Anyone know why? Mike Farmer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Re: 1859 aurora -- thanks!
Thank you to everyone who helped me track down information about the auroras of 1859. Not only was our patron thrilled, our Hawaii and Pacific state library reference crew wanted the information as well for their database, so the links did double duty. Thanks again! Tracy Latimer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Whole individual
List, Back to the whole individual question. Really fresh specimens can be confusing at a glance. Many appear to be fragments with fresh exposed matrix, exposed as if they broke on impact with a hard surface. After a second look I see the light matrix from the exposed face frosted over the fusion crust without any sign of secondary ablation color change. Flakes of heavy crust missing with splotches remaining, like missing shuttle tiles, the exposed matrix still pristine showing no secondary burn. Spatters of metal splashed on the outside of the black crust like someone splashed solder on it. It appears that heat was no longer the primary factor involved, so what ensued in those final seconds or a fraction, that determined these effects? Are these common characteristics of a fresh chondrite fall? If not, maybe the velocity was greater than prescribed. Could the last blast of a fragmenting, soon to be meteorite, cause the fragments to gain velocity, lose heat and undergo changes caused by pressure alone? It's difficult enough for me to comprehend fresh stuff. It's crazy to think about finds and how to decide if they are whole individuals. Bill __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay.
Matteo, Matteo, Matteo, how many times have you been thrown off of ebay? Isn't is odd that it is always some idiot's fault? You know what I and others have noticed, there are a lot of Idiots out there, and they all seem to revolve round Matteo from Venice in some fashion. I remember when some idiot broke into your home and used your computer to bid on my auctions after you had been told not to. These idiots are sure not very bright, to use poor Matteo's computer. What did they do this time, shill bidding on your items using your computer without your knowledge? Had to be something serious to get you thrown off yet again. Mike Farmer -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of M come Meteorite Meteorites Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:39 PM To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay. you are happy uh Farmer? No problem, I return at 7 daysproblems with a idiot in the italian ebay forum... Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo was thrown off of eBay again today. Anyone know why? Mike Farmer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] Park Forest Fireball Question
Hello Geoff, I found the following table in The orbit, atmospheric dynamics, and initial mass of the Park Forest meteorite paper by P. BROWN, D. PACK, W. N. EDWARDS, D. O. REVELLE, B. B. YOO, R. E. SPALDING, and E. TAGLIAFERRI7, which was published in Meteoritics Planetary Science 39, Nr 11, 17811796 (2004). Table 1. Velocities calculated from features in visible and infrared space sensor data. Altitude range (km) Velocity (km/s) 372920 ± 1 372217 ± 1 292214 ± 1 If your work is going to be specifically about the Park Forest fall, or have it as a significant part of the work, I'd be interested in reading it when it's finished. Hope this helps. Dave Johnson You wrote: Greetings All: Anyone know if a study has been made regarding velocity of the Park Forest fireball? I read/heard somewhere that the PF fireball was thought to be traveling at a higher than normal velocity. Any more info on that, or any links to a published work regarding its entry velocity? This is research for something I'm writing. Any info much appreciated, even theories or speculation. I also heard the sonic boom here in Tucson last night, which Mike Farmer reported. Didn't see anything in the papers this morning, though. Regards, Geoff N. www.aerolite.org __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide
Pete list, There are meteorites with slickenside?! It would have to be Martian, then, right? Yes, slickensided meteorites have been discussed several times on the list. But no, they don't have to be planetary. I would only be speculating on the actual limiting conditions, but the parent body just needs to be sufficiently large and cohesive to break and move in frictional contact with the opposing surface a few inches or less. I'm guessing that even in small bodies without enough gravity to hold breaks in frictional contact, the pressures of a hard impact could do the job. I've never really thought about it before, but I can't see any reason why the striated surfaces on Sikhote shrapnel wouldn't be appropriately termed slickensides. The Glossary of Geology gives this definition: A polished and smoothly striated surface that results from friction along a fault plane (a fault is a surface along which movement has occured). Hence, you take even a baseball-sized lump of iron and impact it so hard that it breaks and slips a little under the compression of impact, and you could expect surface features that would meet the definition of slickensides. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Pete Pete [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, Norm all, There are meteorites with slickenside?! It would have to be Martian, then, right? Cheers, Pete From: Norm Lehrman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED],meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 13:18:31 -0800 (PST) Greg all, Nice specimens. Just a minor side point: the term is slickensides for the striated, movement-polished surface itself, or slickensided for a rock showing slickensides. Your version is a common, but erroneous, transliteration. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear List Members, I have been going through the material I brought back from my Morocco trip last week. Here are some photos of some very nice fresh chondrites, an unusual thing these days coming out of Morocco. There are two pictures of some very good examples of Slick-n-Slide also. I have not seen chondrites this nice for a long time out of the Sahara. 4170 gram Large and Fresh Thumb Printed chondrite - VERY COOL !! http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc1.jpg 140 gram Individual - Neat Shape http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00013.jpg 122.7 gram Slick-n-Slide (Best Example I have Seen for a Long Time) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00023.jpg 25.6 gram Slick-n-Slide (Unfortunately broke during airplane ride home) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00025.jpg Hope you enjoy the pictures. Best regards, Greg Hupe The Hupe Collection NaturesVault (eBay) [EMAIL PROTECTED] IMCA 3163 __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay.
But want you thing to know of it you? You do not be in the italian forum of ebay. You are only good to put fake informations around. Stop to broken me AGAIN! Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo, Matteo, Matteo, how many times have you been thrown off of ebay? Isn't is odd that it is always some idiot's fault? You know what I and others have noticed, there are a lot of Idiots out there, and they all seem to revolve round Matteo from Venice in some fashion. I remember when some idiot broke into your home and used your computer to bid on my auctions after you had been told not to. These idiots are sure not very bright, to use poor Matteo's computer. What did they do this time, shill bidding on your items using your computer without your knowledge? Had to be something serious to get you thrown off yet again. Mike Farmer -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of M come Meteorite Meteorites Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:39 PM To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay. you are happy uh Farmer? No problem, I return at 7 daysproblems with a idiot in the italian ebay forum... Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo was thrown off of eBay again today. Anyone know why? Mike Farmer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide
I have seen many chondrites with slickensides. Zag being one of the most common. Mike Farmer -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Norm Lehrman Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 10:02 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide Pete list, There are meteorites with slickenside?! It would have to be Martian, then, right? Yes, slickensided meteorites have been discussed several times on the list. But no, they don't have to be planetary. I would only be speculating on the actual limiting conditions, but the parent body just needs to be sufficiently large and cohesive to break and move in frictional contact with the opposing surface a few inches or less. I'm guessing that even in small bodies without enough gravity to hold breaks in frictional contact, the pressures of a hard impact could do the job. I've never really thought about it before, but I can't see any reason why the striated surfaces on Sikhote shrapnel wouldn't be appropriately termed slickensides. The Glossary of Geology gives this definition: A polished and smoothly striated surface that results from friction along a fault plane (a fault is a surface along which movement has occured). Hence, you take even a baseball-sized lump of iron and impact it so hard that it breaks and slips a little under the compression of impact, and you could expect surface features that would meet the definition of slickensides. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Pete Pete [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, Norm all, There are meteorites with slickenside?! It would have to be Martian, then, right? Cheers, Pete From: Norm Lehrman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED],meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Cool Fresh Chondrites and Slick-n-Slide Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 13:18:31 -0800 (PST) Greg all, Nice specimens. Just a minor side point: the term is slickensides for the striated, movement-polished surface itself, or slickensided for a rock showing slickensides. Your version is a common, but erroneous, transliteration. Cheers, Norm http://tektitesource.com --- Greg Hupe [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear List Members, I have been going through the material I brought back from my Morocco trip last week. Here are some photos of some very nice fresh chondrites, an unusual thing these days coming out of Morocco. There are two pictures of some very good examples of Slick-n-Slide also. I have not seen chondrites this nice for a long time out of the Sahara. 4170 gram Large and Fresh Thumb Printed chondrite - VERY COOL !! http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc1.jpg 140 gram Individual - Neat Shape http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00013.jpg 122.7 gram Slick-n-Slide (Best Example I have Seen for a Long Time) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00023.jpg 25.6 gram Slick-n-Slide (Unfortunately broke during airplane ride home) http://www.lunarrock.com/3-9/dsc00025.jpg Hope you enjoy the pictures. Best regards, Greg Hupe The Hupe Collection NaturesVault (eBay) [EMAIL PROTECTED] IMCA 3163 __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay.
You have no problem attacking everyone else's ebay auctions, I can show in the archives where you have done it to me a hundred times. You can't handle it when people do the same to you Matteo? All I asked was why you were kicked off of ebay again. So tell us, what does the Italian forum have to do with anything, it is the same user id you use to bid on auctions all over ebay. Why is it blocked now? Mike -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of M come Meteorite Meteorites Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 10:53 PM To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay. But want you thing to know of it you? You do not be in the italian forum of ebay. You are only good to put fake informations around. Stop to broken me AGAIN! Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo, Matteo, Matteo, how many times have you been thrown off of ebay? Isn't is odd that it is always some idiot's fault? You know what I and others have noticed, there are a lot of Idiots out there, and they all seem to revolve round Matteo from Venice in some fashion. I remember when some idiot broke into your home and used your computer to bid on my auctions after you had been told not to. These idiots are sure not very bright, to use poor Matteo's computer. What did they do this time, shill bidding on your items using your computer without your knowledge? Had to be something serious to get you thrown off yet again. Mike Farmer -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of M come Meteorite Meteorites Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:39 PM To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Matteo and Ebay. you are happy uh Farmer? No problem, I return at 7 daysproblems with a idiot in the italian ebay forum... Matteo --- Michael Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ha scritto: Matteo was thrown off of eBay again today. Anyone know why? Mike Farmer __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list M come Meteorite - Matteo Chinellato Via Triestina 126/A - 30030 - TESSERA, VENEZIA, ITALY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sale Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.it Collection Site: http://www.mcomemeteorite.info MSN Messanger: spacerocks at hotmail.com EBAY.COM:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/mcomemeteorite/ ___ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
