My father John and I bid farewell to the Granite Gap dedication and to dark-sky observing in New Mexico and, on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, drove northwest to Tucson, Arizona, for the annual Gem and Mineral Show. This huge event draws more than 100,000 to the city each year to look at hundreds of thousands of minerals, gems, meteorites, beads, pieces of jewelry, and other items that rock and gem folks just love — and all of it’s for sale. The show is the big event for the meteorite world and brings together hundreds of dealers and collectors. Yet it’s actually many shows: The so-called satellite shows are set up at numerous hotels throughout the city for several weeks, and as I write, these are coming to an end. Conversely, the “main show” at the Tucson Convention Center starts today. I’ll bring you coverage of the show and its meteorites on Astronomy.com and also in a feature story in Astronomy magazine a little ways down the road.
The gang at Aerolite Meteorites relaxes during one of many discussions about meteorite hunting on Wednesday, February 9, 2011. Geoff Notkin, co-star of TV’s Meteorite Men is at right. David J. Eicher photo
The center of activity for the past 2 days has been the Hotel Tucson City Center, known for years until 2010 as the InnSuites. This biggest and most active of the satellite shows hosts numerous meteorite dealers, including Aerolite Meteorites, centrally located and always a hub of activity. Its owner, Geoff Notkin, is the-well recognized star of the Science Channel’s
Meteorite Men. We stopped by and talked all things meteoritic with Geoff for a considerable time, learning of his show’s success and the many hot topics that now pervade meteorite collecting. Among them is Geoff’s new book,
Meteorite Hunting: How to Find Treasure from Space (84 pp., paperback, Aerolite Meteorites, Tucson, 2011; see
www.aerolite.org to order). This great guide will be a must on the bookshelves of meteorite collectors for years to come. Geoff’s inventory is substantial and widely varied, including artifacts and finds from the TV episodes and lots of spectacular meteorites of all types, ranging from those for beginners up to sophisticated and extremely rare lunar and martian meteorites.
Anne Black of Impactika Meteorites showed an incredible meteorite in her room — a Sikhote-Alin from Russia lodged in a tree stump since 1947. The meteorite sold while I was in the room. David J. Eicher photo
Next door to Aerolite stands the room of Anne Black, who owns Impactika Meteorites in Denver, Colorado. Anne has some of the most incredible space rocks around, including the biggest thin secton collection on the planet. As I entered her room Wednesday, she was in the process of selling an astonishing artifact — a Sikhote-Alin meteorite that fell in Russia and struck a tree trunk, having been lodged there since 1947. It’s now headed for an Australian museum. It was a breathtaking display of nature!
Numerous other meteorite dealers are here, including France’s Luc Labenne, Mike Farmer, the Comet Meteorite Shop from Russia, ELKK Meteorites, ET Meteorites, H. K. Meteorites, K. D. Meteorites, Meteorite Collection from Prague, Meteorite Caravan from Tunisia, Pani Meteorites from Vienna, and others. I also ran into celebrated mineral photographer Jeff Scovil, whose images grace the best publications in mineral collecting, such as the Mineralogical Record, and discovered that he is the son of Charles Scovil, the well-known astronomer — something I hadn’t known! I hope that you will see some of Jeff’s meteorite images in Astronomy over the coming months.
There is so much going on here, and much more to report tomorrow!
Find more photos from the 2011 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in our Online Reader Gallery