A fine end cut of the Ocate meteorite, an Iron IAB fall found in Mora Co., New Mexico, in 1986. // Credit: David J. Eicher
The biggest event of the year for meteorite collectors and enthusiasts has been raging through Tucson, Arizona, for a number of days now. Astronomy magazine is proud to have a presence in Tucson during this big week with our public star party that will be held at Pima Community College, East Campus, this Saturday, February 14. See this link for more.
But we are also here to put together some big materials on the observatories in this U.S. capital of astronomy and also to cover meteorites at the Gem Show.
For starters, Senior Editor Michael Bakich and I visited an old friend, Anne Black of Impactika Meteorites. Anne has one of the greatest inventories of meteorites in the world and is famous for many historically important specimens, rarities like lunar and martian meteorites, and probably the best collection of meteorite thin sections outside a major institution.
Michael and I examined and photographed numerous meteorites in Anne’s room, including historic specimens like one of Harvey H. Nininger’s Canyon Diablo specimens — a piece of the iron that created Meteor Crater in northern Arizona. (Nininger was the godfather of meteorite collecting.)
We also examined some rarities like pieces of the Tucson Ring meteorite, of the Nakhla martian meteorite, and of newly found lunar meteorites from the Sahara Desert.
And there was much much more! You can await a story upcoming in the pages of the magazine . . .
Read here for more on Anne’s meteorites.
For all images from the trip, visit the Online Reader Gallery.
For related blogs, see:
Visiting historic Lowell Observatory
A visit to the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology branch in Flagstaff
A visit to the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station
Follow David J. Eicher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deicherstar