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Smitshonian exhibit is open

I just came back from a brief visit to the recently re-opened meteorite
exhibit at the Smithsonian.  (Can one ever spend enough time among
meteorites?) I would like to share my personal impressions with this
list, and invite anyone else fortunate enough to have visited the hall
to chime in with their observations and opinions. 

There was a number of good points to the exhibit (e.g., audiovisual
displays about Chicxulub or the early history of the solar system) but
also a few disappointments.  The taxonomy chart of meteorites didn't
even list brachinites under the various achondite groupings.  The Tuscon
ring and anvil were off in a separate side room with the Hope diamond!!
This can be a bad thing if your main interest in visiting the Natural
History museum is to observe the meteorites -- I nearly missed the
Tucson wonders -- but it can be a good thing in the sense that more of
the public is likely to see the ataxites in the corner once they pry
their eyes off the Hope diamond spectacle in the center.  There could
have been a more interesting display on the history of this meteorite. 
Who should want to stare at a blue diamond when greater wonders are
present?

As you first enter the exhibit, a vial containing microdiamonds in
solution from a thumb sized Allende grabs your attention.  To the left
begins a series of display cases starting with Allende ranging from a
few dozen grams (I estimate) to one the size of a very large potato.  No
huge Allende was on display.  Scattered around the cases was Murchison,
Murray, Mighei, Orgueill, Ivuna, and other carbonaceous chondrites
including CRs.

They had several large sized irons wieghing at least hundreds of pounds
for the public to touch including the visually and tactilely impressive
Goose Lake. If the precise weights were given at the display this was
not immediately obvious to me. There was a huge slice of Mundrabilla
behind glass, a wonder to behold with its plentiful inclusions.

About half of the SNCs were represented. Allan Hills 84001 was present
of course, sealed in a clear box even within the glass wall. They have a
polished Nakhla you can touch (but it was so slick that I couldn't
figure out if I was touching it or a protective coating).  They had most
of the Lafayette intact, and was it ever impressive- a beautiful
oriented shield with shiny black crust and enormous radial flow lines. 
Wow!  There was also an Antarctic shergottite that was very light toned
in contrast to the gray of Zagami.  Explanations, anyone?

There were a number of well preserved polished slabs of pallasite-
Thiels Mnt caught my eye, as did Otinapa.  Their Esquel was fairly big
but looked ho-hum to me; it is much prettier when thinly prepared and
well back-lit.  There were separate samples of Brenham to demonstrate
both the olivine-sparse and olivine-rich aspects of this single
meteorite.  Many slabs of mesosiderite could be seen, including Emery. 
There was also a large piece of the intriguing Bencubbin stoney-iron.

There were of course many ordinary chondrites including Ensisheim,
Peekskill, and a large Mbale displaying both reasonably fresh crust and
gray interior.  An enjoyable part of the display mixed meteorites with
meteorwrongs and let you guess at which was which.  I hope everyone
reading passes this test.

Of course, it would not be the Smithsonian without a section on moon
rocks.  Included was a case of the sort used by the Apollo astronauts to
bring back samples.  One wonders just how pristine the samples were when
delivered to the lab.
 
The tektite display naturally focused on the impact theory.  Their best
rizalite on display was not as impressive as several in private
collections. They had some big splash forms from Indochina, and a very
large Muong Nong.  If you have never seen Billitonites, this is your
chance.  They had a number of flanged Australites including the barbell
shape as well as the better known button.  Although I did not see a
bediasite, there were four large Georgia tektites.  Another rarity was a
set of five shiny Ivory Coast tektites.  There was a magnifier
displaying a collection of microtektites.  Fortunately for my eyes,
there was also a good photograph beside this.

It was obvious from conspicuous absences that much of the collection was
not present and the curator no doubt had to make many hard choices about
which specimens would get floor space.  There was a good mix of science
and aesthetics in this exhibit, and perhaps not enough attention to
history. All in all, I would highly recommend that any meteoritophile
visit the Smithsonian exhibit given a chance- despite some shortcomings,
I give it a very commendable "A".
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