METEORS Learning Objectives
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March 21–25, 2016
FORTY-SEVENTH LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE PROGRAM OF TECHNICAL SESSIONS MARCH 21–25, 2016 The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center The Woodlands, Texas INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Universities Space Research Association Lunar and Planetary Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute Eileen Stansbery, NASA Johnson Space Center PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIRS David Draper, NASA Johnson Space Center Walter Kiefer, Lunar and Planetary Institute PROGRAM COMMITTEE P. Doug Archer, NASA Johnson Space Center Nicolas LeCorvec, Lunar and Planetary Institute Katherine Bermingham, University of Maryland Yo Matsubara, Smithsonian Institute Janice Bishop, SETI and NASA Ames Research Center Francis McCubbin, NASA Johnson Space Center Jeremy Boyce, University of California, Los Angeles Andrew Needham, Carnegie Institution of Washington Lisa Danielson, NASA Johnson Space Center Lan-Anh Nguyen, NASA Johnson Space Center Deepak Dhingra, University of Idaho Paul Niles, NASA Johnson Space Center Stephen Elardo, Carnegie Institution of Washington Dorothy Oehler, NASA Johnson Space Center Marc Fries, NASA Johnson Space Center D. Alex Patthoff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Cyrena Goodrich, Lunar and Planetary Institute Elizabeth Rampe, Aerodyne Industries, Jacobs JETS at John Gruener, NASA Johnson Space Center NASA Johnson Space Center Justin Hagerty, U.S. Geological Survey Carol Raymond, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lindsay Hays, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Paul Schenk, -
Discovery of Amino Acids from Didwana-Ra Jod
DISCUSSION DISCOVERY OF AMINO ACIDS FROM DIDWANA-RAJOD METEORITE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON ORIGIN OF LIFE by Vinod C. Tewari et al. Jour. Geol. SQC.India, v.60,2002, pp. 107-1 10. geochemistry of meteorite amino acids is scanty at present \ for any meaningful interpretation of isotope data. Therefore, P-IL Sukumaran, Geological Survey of Xrrdia, Alandi the presence of three a amino acids reported by the auaars Road, Pune - 411 OQ6, Ernail: [email protected];.o.uk, cannot be taken as conclusive evidence for their biogenicity, comments: more so in the absence of stereochemical and stable isotope data. The greatest mystery in science is the origin of life and Another point that calls for attention is the serious the greatest discovery in science will be the discovery of problem of contamination faced while studying meteoritic life beyond earth, if at all extt-aterrestriaF life would ever be organic compounds. The authors cIaim that their samples discovered. ft is in this context that I read with interest the are free of contamination without giving any details. Many research communication by Vinod C. Tewari et al. on the studies published earlier in the literature on meteorite discovery of amino acids in the Didwana-Rajod meteorite. organics have subsequently been rejected based on the fact However, there is little description of the meteorite, as to that they are all terrestrial contaminants. when did it fall, its repository, etc., as these aspects are Attention of the authors is also drawn to two papers that very important while studying the amino acids in the appeared in March 2002 issue of Nature. -
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
Chemical analysis of organic molecules in carbonaceous meteorites Torrao Pinto Martins, Zita Carla Citation Torrao Pinto Martins, Z. C. (2007, January 24). Chemical analysis of organic molecules in carbonaceous meteorites. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/9450 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral License: thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/9450 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). ______________________________________________________ CHAPTER 1 ______________________________________________________ Introduction 1.1 Heavenly stones-from myth to science Ancient chronicles, from the Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Roman and Sumerian civilizations documented the fall1 of meteorites, with Sumerian texts from around the end of the third millennium B. C. describing possibly one of the earliest words for meteoritic iron (Fig. 1.1 Left). Egyptian hieroglyphs meaning “heavenly iron” (Fig. 1.1 Right) found in pyramids together with the use of meteoritic iron in jewellery and artefacts show the importance of meteorites in early Egypt. Meteorites were worshiped by ancient Greeks and Romans, who struck coins to celebrate their fall, with the cult to worship meteorites prevailing for many centuries. For example, some American Indian tribes paid tribute to large iron meteorites, and even in modern days the Black Stone of the Ka´bah in Mecca is worshiped and regarded by Muslims as “an object from heaven”. The oldest preserved meteorite that was observed to fall (19th May 861) was found recently (October 1979) in a Shinto temple in Nogata, Japan. It weighted 472 g and it was stored in a wooden box. -
Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutter's Mill Meteorite, A
RESEARCH ARTICLES the area (2). One meteorite fell at Sutter’sMill (SM), the gold discovery site that initiated the California Gold Rush. Two months after the fall, Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutter’s SM find numbers were assigned to the 77 me- teorites listed in table S3 (3), with a total mass of 943 g. The biggest meteorite is 205 g. Mill Meteorite, a Carbonaceous This is a tiny fraction of the pre-atmospheric mass, based on the kinetic energy derived from Chondrite Regolith Breccia infrasound records. Eyewitnesses reported hearing aloudboomfollowedbyadeeprumble.Infra- Peter Jenniskens,1,2* Marc D. Fries,3 Qing-Zhu Yin,4 Michael Zolensky,5 Alexander N. Krot,6 sound signals (table S2A) at stations I57US and 2 2 7 8 8,9 Scott A. Sandford, Derek Sears, Robert Beauford, Denton S. Ebel, Jon M. Friedrich, I56US of the International Monitoring System 6 4 4 10 Kazuhide Nagashima, Josh Wimpenny, Akane Yamakawa, Kunihiko Nishiizumi, (4), located ~770 and ~1080 km from the source, 11 12 10 13 Yasunori Hamajima, Marc W. Caffee, Kees C. Welten, Matthias Laubenstein, are consistent with stratospherically ducted ar- 14,15 14 14,15 16 Andrew M. Davis, Steven B. Simon, Philipp R. Heck, Edward D. Young, rivals (5). The combined average periods of all 17 18 18 19 20 Issaku E. Kohl, Mark H. Thiemens, Morgan H. Nunn, Takashi Mikouchi, Kenji Hagiya, phase-aligned stacked waveforms at each station 21 22 22 22 23 Kazumasa Ohsumi, Thomas A. Cahill, Jonathan A. Lawton, David Barnes, Andrew Steele, of 7.6 s correspond to a mean source energy of 24 4 24 2 25 Pierre Rochette, Kenneth L. -
Carbonaceous Meteorites Contain a Wide Range of Extraterrestrial Nucleobases
Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases Michael P. Callahana,1, Karen E. Smithb, H. James Cleaves IIc, Josef Ruzickad, Jennifer C. Sterna, Daniel P. Glavina, Christopher H. Houseb, and Jason P. Dworkina aNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center and The Goddard Center for Astrobiology, Greenbelt, MD 20771; bDepartment of Geosciences and Penn State Astrobiology Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, 220 Deike Building, University Park, PA 16802; cGeophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015; and dScientific Instruments Division, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Somerset, NJ 08873 Edited by Mark H. Thiemens, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved July 12, 2011 (received for review April 25, 2011) All terrestrial organisms depend on nucleic acids (RNA and DNA), meteorite heterogeneity, experimental artifacts, and terrestrial which use pyrimidine and purine nucleobases to encode genetic contamination. To date, all of the purines (adenine, guanine, information. Carbon-rich meteorites may have been important hypoxanthine, and xanthine) and the one pyrimidine (uracil) re- sources of organic compounds required for the emergence of life ported in meteorites (15–18) are biologically common and could on the early Earth; however, the origin and formation of nucleo- be explained as the result of terrestrial contamination. Martins bases in meteorites has been debated for over 50 y. So far, the et al. performed compound-specific stable carbon isotope mea- few nucleobases reported in meteorites are biologically common surements for uracil and xanthine in the Murchison meteorite and lacked the structural diversity typical of other indigenous me- (19) and interpreted the isotopic signatures for these nucleobases teoritic organics. -
Chelyabinsk Airburst, Damage Assessment, Meteorite Recovery and Characterization
O. P. Popova, et al., Chelyabinsk Airburst, Damage Assessment, Meteorite Recovery and Characterization. Science 342 (2013). Chelyabinsk Airburst, Damage Assessment, Meteorite Recovery, and Characterization Olga P. Popova1, Peter Jenniskens2,3,*, Vacheslav Emel'yanenko4, Anna Kartashova4, Eugeny Biryukov5, Sergey Khaibrakhmanov6, Valery Shuvalov1, Yurij Rybnov1, Alexandr Dudorov6, Victor I. Grokhovsky7, Dmitry D. Badyukov8, Qing-Zhu Yin9, Peter S. Gural2, Jim Albers2, Mikael Granvik10, Läslo G. Evers11,12, Jacob Kuiper11, Vladimir Kharlamov1, Andrey Solovyov13, Yuri S. Rusakov14, Stanislav Korotkiy15, Ilya Serdyuk16, Alexander V. Korochantsev8, Michail Yu. Larionov7, Dmitry Glazachev1, Alexander E. Mayer6, Galen Gisler17, Sergei V. Gladkovsky18, Josh Wimpenny9, Matthew E. Sanborn9, Akane Yamakawa9, Kenneth L. Verosub9, Douglas J. Rowland19, Sarah Roeske9, Nicholas W. Botto9, Jon M. Friedrich20,21, Michael E. Zolensky22, Loan Le23,22, Daniel Ross23,22, Karen Ziegler24, Tomoki Nakamura25, Insu Ahn25, Jong Ik Lee26, Qin Zhou27, 28, Xian-Hua Li28, Qiu-Li Li28, Yu Liu28, Guo-Qiang Tang28, Takahiro Hiroi29, Derek Sears3, Ilya A. Weinstein7, Alexander S. Vokhmintsev7, Alexei V. Ishchenko7, Phillipe Schmitt-Kopplin30,31, Norbert Hertkorn30, Keisuke Nagao32, Makiko K. Haba32, Mutsumi Komatsu33, and Takashi Mikouchi34 (The Chelyabinsk Airburst Consortium). 1Institute for Dynamics of Geospheres of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospect 38, Building 1, Moscow, 119334, Russia. 2SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. 3NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Mail Stop 245-1, CA 94035, USA. 4Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyatnitskaya 48, Moscow, 119017, Russia. 5Department of Theoretical Mechanics, South Ural State University, Lenin Avenue 76, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia. 6Chelyabinsk State University, Bratyev Kashirinyh Street 129, Chelyabinsk, 454001, Russia. -
The Socio-Economic Control of a Scientific Paradigm: Life As a Cosmic Phenomenon
THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTROL OF A SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM: LIFE AS A COSMIC PHENOMENON N.Chandra Wickramasinghe1 and Gensuke Tokoro2 1Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology; 1University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK 2Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Innovation Research, Tokyo, Japan Abstract A major paradigm shift with potentially profound implications has been taking place over the past 3 decades at a rapidly accelerating pace. The Copernican revolution of half a millennium ago is now being extended to place humanity on the Earth in its correct cosmic perspective - an assembly of cosmically derived genes, no more, no less, pieced together over 4 billion years of geological history against the processes of Darwinian natural selection. The evidence for our cosmic ancestry has now grown to the point that to deny it is a process fraught with imminent danger. We discuss the weight of modern scientific evidence from diverse sources, the history of development of the relevant ideas, and the socio-economic and historical forces that are responsible for dictating the pace of change. Keywords: panspermia, cosmic origins of life, economics, history of science 1. Introduction “Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatever: but, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth. It is a sort of temperance, by which a man speaks truth with measure that he may speak it the longer….” - Edmund Burke, 1849: The works of Edmund Burke, with a memoir 2. Harper & Brothers. p. 248. Economy of Truth is a principle of limitation often used by politicians whenever the Whole Truth is deemed strategically unwise. We show in this article that the same principle is used in science as a mode of controlling the flow of information, and the mechanism of control involves the collective, and often covert decisions of large and diffuse groups. -
INVESTIGATING the ALCOHOL CONTENT of the MURCHISON METEORITE. D. N. Simkus1,2, J. C. Aponte2,3, J. E. Elsila2, J. P. Dworkin2. 1
51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2020) 2635.pdf INVESTIGATING THE ALCOHOL CONTENT OF THE MURCHISON METEORITE. D. N. Simkus1,2, J. C. Aponte2,3, J. E. Elsila2, J. P. Dworkin2. 1NASA Postdoctoral Program, Universities Space Research Association, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 ([email protected]), 2NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, 3Dept. of Chemistry, Catholic Univ. of America, Washington, DC 20064 Introduction: Aliphatic monoalcohols with no oth- enantiomeric measurements were included and no fur- er functionalization (hereafter “alcohols”) are among ther investigations of meteoritic alcohols have been the key potential precursors to several biologically- reported to date. The methods employed by previous relevant organic compounds detected in carbonaceous studies are inadequate for compound-specific stable chondrite meteorites (Figure 1), including amino acids isotopic analyses due to insufficient separation of iso- and carboxylic acids, which are subunits of proteins mers (e.g., co-elution of the butanols) and the lack of and simple membranes, respectively. As such, com- enantioseparation for chiral alcohols. Thus, investigat- pound-specific stable isotopic measurements, enantio- ing the isotopic and enantiomeric compositions of me- meric measurements, and quantifications of meteoritic teoritic alcohols required a new methodology. alcohols should provide important insights into both the cosmochemical and prebiotic history of asteroid Table 1. Alcohols in the Murchison meteorite previously parent bodies. identified by Jungclaus et al., 1976 [2]. Compound Abundance (µg/g) Methanol 5 Ethanol 3 Isopropanol 2 n-Propanol n.d. Butanolsa 1 n.d. – not determined aButanols include four isomers: tert-butanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, and R,S-sec-butanol Fig. -
Processing of Meteoritic Organic Materials As a Possible Analog of Early Molecular Evolution in Planetary Environments
Processing of meteoritic organic materials as a possible analog of early molecular evolution in planetary environments Sandra Pizzarelloa,1, Stephen K. Davidowskia, Gregory P. Hollanda, and Lynda B. Williamsb aDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1604; and bSchool of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 Edited* by Jonathan I. Lunine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and approved August 2, 2013 (received for review May 14, 2013) The composition of the Sutter’s Mill meteorite insoluble organic hydrocarbons; several of these have identical counterparts in the material was studied both in toto by solid-state NMR spectroscopy terrestrial biosphere and have been extensively studied and of the powders and by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry reviewed (2). The IOM represents the larger portion of CC or- analyses of compounds released upon their hydrothermal treat- ganic carbon, up to 99%, and is not known in molecular detail. It ment. Results were compared with those obtained for other mete- is often referred to as kerogen-like because, like kerogen, it is orites of diverse classifications (Murray, GRA 95229, Murchison, insoluble and isolated after dissolution of free compounds and Orgueil, and Tagish Lake) and found to be so far unique in regard minerals by repeated washes with strong acids (4). The IOM bulk to the molecular species released. These include, in addition to O- composition can be only inferred from spectroscopy, e.g., NMR containing aromatic compounds, complex polyether- and ester- and infrared, or decomposition studies, which have suggested containing alkyl molecules of prebiotic appeal and never detected a complex macromolecular structure with both aromatic and in meteorites before. -
Meteorite Collections: Sample List
Meteorite Collections: Sample List Institute of Meteoritics Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of New Mexico October 01, 2021 Institute of Meteoritics Meteorite Collection The IOM meteorite collection includes samples from approximately 600 different meteorites, representative of most meteorite types. The last printed copy of the collection's Catalog was published in 1990. We will no longer publish a printed catalog, but instead have produced this web-based Online Catalog, which presents the current catalog in searchable and downloadable forms. The database will be updated periodically. The date on the front page of this version of the catalog is the date that it was downloaded from the worldwide web. The catalog website is: Although we have made every effort to avoid inaccuracies, the database may still contain errors. Please contact the collection's Curator, Dr. Rhian Jones, ([email protected]) if you have any questions or comments. Cover photos: Top left: Thin section photomicrograph of the martian shergottite, Zagami (crossed nicols). Brightly colored crystals are pyroxene; black material is maskelynite (a form of plagioclase feldspar that has been rendered amorphous by high shock pressures). Photo is 1.5 mm across. (Photo by R. Jones.) Top right: The Pasamonte, New Mexico, eucrite (basalt). This individual stone is covered with shiny black fusion crust that formed as the stone fell through the earth's atmosphere. Photo is 8 cm across. (Photo by K. Nicols.) Bottom left: The Dora, New Mexico, pallasite. Orange crystals of olivine are set in a matrix of iron, nickel metal. Photo is 10 cm across. (Photo by K. -
The Meteoritical Society Committee on Meteorite Nomenclature
THE METEORITICAL SOCIETY COMMITTEE ON METEORITE NOMENCLATURE GUIDELINES FOR METEORITE NOMENCLATURE FEBRUARY 1980 Revised October 2000; October 2004; April 2005; October 2006; July 2010; March 2011; December 2011; May 2012; July 2012; August 2012; February 2015; July 2015; March 2019 [Addition of §4.2c] Contents GUIDELINES FOR METEORITE NOMENCLATURE ............................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Objectives. ......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Scope. ................................................................................................................................ 2 2. APPLICATION AND REQUIREMENTS OF A METEORITE NAME ............................... 3 2.1 Unique names. ................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Distinctive names. ............................................................................................................. 3 2.3 Precedents. ......................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 International usage............................................................................................................. 4 3. NEW METEORITE NAMES ................................................................................................ -
Fireball Trajectory, Photometry, Dynamics, Fragmentation, Orbit, and Meteorite Recovery
The Žďár nad Sázavou meteorite fall: Fireball trajectory, photometry, dynamics, fragmentation, orbit, and meteorite recovery Pavel Spurný1*, Jiří Borovička1, Lukáš Shrbený1 1Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Fričova 298, 25165 Ondřejov Observatory, Czech Republic *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract We report a comprehensive analysis of the instrumentally observed meteorite fall Žďár nad Sázavou, which occurred in the Czech Republic on 9 December 2014 at 16:16:45-54 UT. The original meteoroid with an estimated initial mass of 150 kg entered the atmosphere with a speed of 21.89 km s-1 and began a luminous trajectory at an altitude of 98.06 km. At the maximum, it reached -15.26 absolute magnitude and terminated after an 9.16 s and 170.5 km long flight at an altitude of 24.71 km with a speed of 4.8 km/s. The average slope of the atmospheric trajectory to the Earth’s surface was only 25.66°. Before its collision with Earth, the initial meteoroid orbited the Sun on a moderately eccentric orbit with perihelion near Venus orbit, aphelion in the outer main belt, and low inclination. During the atmospheric entry, the meteoroid severely fragmented at a very low dynamic pressure 0.016 MPa and further multiple fragmentations occurred at 1.4 – 2.5 MPa. Based on our analysis, so far three small meteorites classified as L3.9 ordinary chondrites totaling 87 g have been found almost exactly in the locations predicted for a given mass. Because of very high quality of photographic and radiometric records, taken by the dedicated instruments of the Czech part of the European Fireball Network, Žďár nad Sázavou belongs to the most reliably, accurately, and thoroughly described meteorite falls in history.