Sunday I went to the Field Museum in Chicago to check out their displays of meteorites and minerals, having heard about a great exhibition of diamonds in town. I also wanted to see the kickoff of the newly renovated Grainger Hall of Gems, in which diamonds and other minerals are displayed in a spectacular, state-of-the-art fashion. I wasn’t disappointed. Although the systematic collection of meteorites and minerals is displayed in displays and with poor lighting that appears not to have changed in a half century, the Hall of Gems is magnificent. And so is a large case of important meteorites located nearby.

I have posted to our Online Reader Gallery several shots of spectacular meteorites I snapped Sunday, along with some nice gem minerals, too. (After all, chemistry being consistent throughout the universe, many planets out there in other galaxies probably have similar minerals to ours.) This had the net effect to whet my appetite for the upcoming Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, which I will be blogging from in about a week.

Related:

Falling Stars: A Preview of the 2010 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, by Mike Reynolds, contributing editor