Pristine Extraterrestrial Organic Compounds Discovered in “Fireball” Meteorite
On the night of January 16, 2018, a fireball meteor streaked across the sky over the Midwest and Ontario before landing on a frozen lake…
Meteorites
Pristine Space Rock Offers NASA a Peek at the Building Blocks of the Evolution of Life
During a 2012 expedition to Antarctica, a team of Japanese and Belgian researchers picked up a small rock that appeared coal black against the snow…
Largest Extraterrestrial Diamonds Ever Discovered: Cosmic Diamonds Formed During Gigantic Planetary Collisions
International research team solves theory of how diamonds formed inside protoplanets. Geoscientists from Goethe University have found the largest extraterrestrial diamonds ever discovered – a…
Vesta Meteorites Discovered on Asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
In an interplanetary faux pas, it appears some pieces of asteroid Vesta ended up on asteroid Bennu, according to observations from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The…
Popular Theory About the Early Solar System Called Into Doubt by Meteorite Evidence
It is generally accepted that the inner region of the early solar system was subject to an intense period of meteoric bombardment referred to as…
Was Earth’s Water Always Here? Unexpected Meteorite Composition Provides Origin Evidence
The Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface, a fundamental characteristic when it comes to explaining the emergence of…
Earth Should Be Dry – An Unexpected Meteorite Discovery Reveals the Origin of Earth’s Vast Oceans
Meteorite material presumed to be devoid of water because it formed in the dry inner Solar System appears to have contained sufficient hydrogen to have…
SAPHiR Multi-Anvil Press Solves Mystery of the Solar System: How Stony-Iron Meteorites Form
Meteorites give us insight into the early development of the solar system. Using the SAPHiR instrument at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II)…
Origin of Oddball Meteorites: Exploring Magnetization Preserved for Billions of Years
Berkeley Lab scientists contribute to study exploring magnetization preserved for billions of years in meteorite samples. X-ray experiments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)…
New Technique Makes It Easier, Cheaper, and Faster to Analyze Precious Antarctic Micrometeorites
The composition of Antarctic micrometeorites and other tiny but precious rocks such as those from space missions — is really hard to analyze without some…
Family of Oddball Meteorites Stumped Researchers for Decades – Now an Answer to the Puzzling Chimera
Study suggests the rare objects likely came from an early planetesimal with a magnetic core. Most meteorites that have landed on Earth are fragments of…
Giant Meteorite Impacts Formed Parts of the Moon’s Crust, Analysis of Apollo 17 Sample Shows
Research of an Apollo 17 sample, led by the ROM, has revealed that the formation of ancient rocks on the Moon may be directly linked…
Meteorite Chunk Contains Unexpected Evidence of Solid Interstellar Material Formed Before the Sun Was Born
‘Curious and Curiouser!’ – Meteorite Chunk Contains Unexpected Evidence of Presolar Grains An unusual chunk in a meteorite may contain a surprising bit of space…
Using Martian Meteorites to Reconstruct Mars’ Chaotic History
University of Arizona researchers probed Martian meteorites to reconstruct Mars’ chaotic history. Their findings suggest that Mars might not have had a global magma ocean….
New Clues About Potential Life on Mars Revealed by Ancient Meteorite Site on Earth
Study seeks understanding of how Mars may have once hosted oceans and life. Scientists have devised new analytical tools to break down the enigmatic history…
Oldest Material on Earth Discovered: 7-Billion-Year-Old Stardust Found in Meteorite
The ancient stardust reveals a “baby boom” in star formation. Stars have life cycles. They’re born when bits of dust and gas floating through space…
Extraterrestrial Clues to Earth’s Lower Mantle From Shocked Meteorites
Deep below the Earth’s surface lies a thick rocky layer called the mantle, which makes up the majority of our planet’s volume. While Earth’s mantle…
First Evidence of Bio-Essential Sugars in Meteorites
Sugar Delivered to Earth From Space Researchers from Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, JAMSTEC, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center investigated meteorites and found ribose and…