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Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - August 28, 1998

SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN
AUGUST 28, 1998

[snip]

A NEW PIECE OF MARS

New details are emerging about a 2-kilogram (4.5-pound) meteorite found on
May 4th in the Sahara Desert. According to Jutta Zipfel (Max Planck
Institute for Chemistry), the highly weathered stone's mineralogy and
oxygen-isotope ratios proved that it came from the Martian surface. Zipfel
says overall the composition is closest to the class of Martian meteorites
called shergottites, which are basalts that erupted onto the red planet's
surface some 1.3 billion years ago.

Only 13 meteorites are known to have come from Mars. The rare pedigree
means that this sizable stone is worth more than $1,000,000. In fact, just
getting the private owners to relinquish enough of it for scientific
analysis has involved touchy negotiations. Even the find's location remains
a closely guarded secret, and despite four months in "captivity" it has yet
to be given an official designation. (For now, meteor aficionados have
dubbed it "Lucky 13".)

Meanwhile, a good-sized *lunar* meteorite has been found in the same
general region. Named Dar al Gani 400, the stone is a fine-grained fusion
of rock fragments weighing in at 1.425 kg. It becomes the 14th known lunar
meteorite find (two others are paired pieces). But only three of these
Moonstones are in private hands, and of these Dar al Gani is the largest.

[snip]

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