HOUSTON – Johnson Space Center (JSC) scientists are studying a pristine meteorite found in Canada’s Yukon Territory in January that may offer insights into the creation of the universe.
A dramatic fireball from a meteor lit up the early morning skies in northwestern Canada on Jan. 18. NASA in cooperation with Canadian authorities launched an ER 2 (U2) aircraft to capture dust samples from the upper atmosphere.
| The identity of the finder of the Yukon meteorite remains a closely-guarded secret, as does the location where he or she picked up a chunk of the now-famous space rock. Seems that even high cash offers also can't unlock Canada's tight export-control law that covers meteorites. Want to Learn More? |
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Scientists were content with what they might find from the aircraft samples since meteorites producing a fireball usually burn up in the atmosphere.
About one week later, a resident of a rugged and sparsely populated area of British Columbia notified authorities he had found particles currently dubbed by the scientific community as the "Yukon Meteorite."
"It was a textbook case of how it should be done," said Dr. Richard Herd of the Canadian geological survey. "And we had a local person who was aware and collected the samples correctly."
Early estimates say the meteorite was the size of a school bus and weighed roughly 49 tons (50 metric tons) before breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of more than 60,000 miles per hour (96,000 kilometers per hour).
In addition to the fireball, witnesses in Alaska, the Yukon Territory and British Columbia reported at least two explosions and a contrail that hovered in the upper atmosphere for more than an hour.
Herd declined to name the person or the exact area where the particles were found, but said the finder is interested in scientific analysis done of the pristine meteorite samples.
The Canadian government is seeking permission from the finder, who also owns the meteorite, under Canadian law, for permission to cut into the meteorite particles to study them.
"He just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Herd said. "It must have been fairly obvious – dark rock against a light surface."
What makes this meteorite special is the speed in which it was discovered and how it was handled after that. The finder placed the rocks in double plastic bags and froze them.
Dr. Monica Grady of the Natural History Museum in London said keeping the samples frozen preserves volatile organic compounds that may be inside the meteorites. As the samples warm, any ice in the rock will melt and possibly wash away any organic material inside.
"Every other meteorite we’ve had in our lab has had considerable alteration -- either during fall, during recovery effort, during transmittal back to the lab, " said Dr. Michael Zolensky, a cosmic mineralogist at the Earth Science and Solar System Exploration Division at JSC. "These are the most pristine extraterrestrial materials I’ve ever had in the lab to study."
He said the about one dozen samples at the space center are carbonaceous chondrites – primitive forms with stardust and interstellar dust predating the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
These types of meteorites are also rich in organic material. The lab has about five pounds of samples ranging from charcoal briquette to fingernail size along with dust samples collected by the ER 2.
"These kind of meteorites are extremely rare," Zolensky, said. "The last time any meteorites like this were seen to fall and recovered was in 1969."
Herd said the meteorite was sent to JSC because of the gamma ray spectography facilities, which are unavailable in Canada.
Zolensky said the samples may answer some questions that seem simple, but aren’t.
"It should contain water," he said. "That will tell us more about the early history of water in the solar system and how it’s moved around. For example, we don’t know how it got here (Earth) or when."
For Zolensky, the samples are a once in a lifetime or once in a career opportunity.