[meteorite-list] Park Forest Meteorite To Go On Display At Field Museum of Natural History

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:08 2004
Message-ID: <200304151600.JAA11410_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.nbc5.com/news/2113170/detail.html

Field Museum: Meteor Was About 4.5 Billion Years Old

Meteorites That Fell In Park Forest To Go On Display

NBC5.com
April 14, 2003

Meteorites that landed in Park Forest after they broke off of a space rock
that entered Earth's atmosphere in March will be on display at the Field
Museum of Natural History starting Tuesday.

Three pieces of the meteor that streaked across the Midwestern sky March 26
will be shown in the exhibit "It Came from Outer Space...The Park Forest
Meteorite," according to a news release from the museum.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Kaplan witnessed the meteor's
passing as he checked a rain gauge around 11:50 p.m. that night.

"The whole sky lit up as it went southwest to northeast and broke up into
chunks. It was nearly like daylight," he said a few hours later.

The chunks that hit Park Forest caused damage to two houses, but no
injuries were reported.

The meteor was likely the size of a small car and, from the pieces
recovered, researchers believe it to be about 4.5 billion years old,
probably originating in an asteroid belt between the planets Mars and
Jupiter.

The exhibit is in the Grainger Gallery on the museum's upper level and is
free with museum admission.

The Field Museum, at 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., opens at 9 a.m.

For more information about the display or the museum, contact the Field
Museum at (312) 922-9410.
Received on Tue 15 Apr 2003 12:00:37 PM PDT