[meteorite-list] Meteorites as stars

From: Greg Redfern <gredfern_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:04:47 2004
Message-ID: <NBBBJPGEPBMHMOJGKPFFOEEPCGAA.gredfern_at_earthlink.net>

Dear List,

   As Carl Sagan once said, "We are all made of star stuff". Be it the raw
elements in the Universe or the particular form of matter that they happen
to comprise - trees, humans, stars, planets, asteroids, meteorites, the
ULTIMATE ancestor is the Big Bang itself. The Universe is not a magician in
which it can create matter out of nothing (it CAN create itself out of
nothing it seems!!) - it needs raw material in the form of hydrogen and
stellar fusion.

   The very first stars of the Milky Way Galaxy (and others), or Population
II as they are known, are lacking an abudance of elements heavier than
helium as compared to younger generations of stars (including our Sun) known
as Population I stars. These first stars included massive stars that became
supernovae and seeded the interstellar medium with the elements heavier than
iron. As time passed these elements of nucleosynthesis became part of
successive protostellar systems which in turn formed stars and yes, solar
system(s) and ultimately meteorites.

  In Summation I would submit that the lineage to our specimens is as
follows: Big Bang, galaxies, stars, solar systems, our shelves.

Greg Redfern
IMCA #5781
www.meteoritecollectors.org





-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Michael
Blood
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 5:05 PM
To: Jim Strope
Cc: Meteorite Central
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorites as stars


Jim Strope wrote: 
> ....I like NWA meteorites because they have made it possible for new young
> collectors like Catherine Fox to be able to own a piece of
a star......... 
---------------
A question for all:
        The other day, a student stated that my "claim" that the
vast majority of meteorites came from the asteroid belt was
wrong, as her astronomy instructor had informed her they
were pieces of stars.
        Now, I know that much has been written about solar system
evolution and that, to some very real degree, all solid mater in
our solar system is a sort of "coagulated star light" - the result
of energy transformed into mater.... and then there is the ol' routeen
about Allende predating our sun, so, therefore, being "condensed star
light" from a different star.
        So, to what degree ARE meteorites "pieces of stars" in a
literal sense and to what degree is that more a more "poetically"
accurate statement?
        RSVP
        An interesting question....Michael

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Received on Tue 07 May 2002 06:00:11 PM PDT