The Red Comb: Namib Desert Bears Scar From Meteor Impact
In the vastness of one of the world’s oldest deserts lies a relatively recent geologic feature: the Roter Kamm crater (“Red Comb” in German). An…
Meteorites
Oldest Carbonates in the Solar System – Heidelberg Ion Probe Used to Date Flensburg Meteorite
A meteorite that fell in northern Germany in 2019 contains carbonates which are among the oldest in the solar system; it also evidences the earliest…
NASA Astromaterials 3D Explorer: Rocks From Other Worlds Now Virtually Available
NASA’s astromaterials sample collections, which include a library of Apollo lunar and Antarctic meteorite samples, are now offered online through a new virtual exploration tool…
Meteorite Discovery: Key Building Block for Organic Molecules
Scientists from Japan and NASA have confirmed the presence in meteorites of a key organic molecule that may have been used to build other organic…
Meteoric Evidence Found for a Previously Unknown Asteroid
Mineralogy points to large, water-rich parent asteroid for carbonaceous chondrite meteorite. A Southwest Research Institute-led team of scientists has identified a potentially new meteorite parent…
Chemistry of Life: Key Building Block for Organic Molecules Discovered in Meteorites
Scientists from Japan and the USA have confirmed the presence in meteorites of a key organic molecule that may have been used to build other…
Weighing Space Dust With Radar Pulse Waves
Researchers give radar new abilities using optical data about meteors. It is thought that over 1,000 kilograms of so-called interplanetary dust falls to Earth every…
Meteorites Show That Our Solar System Formed in Less Than 200,000 Years
A long time ago — roughly 4.5 billion years — our sun and solar system formed over the short time span of 200,000 years. That…
The Craters on Earth: New Atlas Presents and Explains the Impact Sites of Meteorites and Asteroids Worldwide
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kenkmann, geologist from the University of Freiburg’s Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, together with mineralogist Prof. Dr. Wolf Uwe Reimold from…
Water on Ancient Mars: Analysis of a Martian Meteorite Reveals Evidence of Water 4.4 Billion Years Ago
A meteorite that originated on Mars billions of years ago reveals details of ancient impact events on the red planet. Certain minerals from the Martian…
New High-Pressure Mineral Discovered in Moon Meteorite
Donwilhelmsite is important for understanding the inner structure of the earth. A team of European researchers discovered a new high-pressure mineral in the lunar meteorite…
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…
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…