Credit: dlsd cgl from PixabayCarbonaceous chondrites—a rare type of meteorite—hold clues to the early days of the solar system. These ancient space rocks are packed with water, carbon, and organic compounds, making them incredibly valuable to scientists. However, despite their importance, they make up less than 4% of meteorites found on Earth. So, where are the...
This 146-gram (5.15-ounce) stone is on loan to the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies from Michael FarmerArizona State University/SETI InstituteOne of the most extensively studied space rocks has recently surprised scientists once again. The "mudball meteorite" Aguas Zarcas, which spent two million years in orbit without colliding with any other objects (or sustaining any...
Most of the Lafayette meteorite is kept at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (NMNH)There is increasing evidence that Mars was once a wet and watery world, with lakes and oceans shaping its surface, leaving behind sediments that are now being carefully analyzed by rovers exploring the planet’s dry, dusty landscape. We know water...
Credit: Royal Holloway, University of LondonFinding the building blocks of lifeNew research released on the organic analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite that crash-landed onto a driveway in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, in 2021. The research, led by Dr. Queenie Chan from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, discovered organic compounds from...
