[meteorite-list] Re: Strange Meteorite article

From: meteoriteplaya_at_comcast.net <meteoriteplaya_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri May 13 10:13:47 2005
Message-ID: <051320051410.20320.4284B5590009EA6800004F6022058891160E970E049F0A9B079D010A9B0A03_at_comcast.net>

Hi
A buddy sent me this story and asked me if I knew which meteorite it refers to. Anyone know if this is for real. Very intersting if it is true.


http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=detail&id=2005-05-09

Strange Meteorites I
Scientists have long studied meteorites for clues to how our solar system formed. But at least one meteorite may hold clues as to why it formed.

Meteorites are chunks of rock or metal that have fallen to Earth. Most of them are chips off of larger bodies, like asteroids or comets, that formed at the same time as the Sun and planets. That makes them some of the oldest surviving bodies in the solar system. By studying their composition, astronomers can learn more about conditions in the cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to the solar system.

A meteorite from China hints at why the cloud collapsed to form the Sun and planets: It was squeezed by the shockwave from an exploding star, called a supernova.

Astronomers have seen this process at work in other star systems. They've also discovered evidence that a supernova exploded at the right place and time to trigger the solar system's birth.

A team of astronomers from China and the United States found that the Chinese meteorite contains an element called sulfur-36. It's the byproduct of the radioactive decay of another element, chlorine-36. This element is created in exploding stars, then blasted into space. But it only lasts about 300,000 years.

Chlorine-36 in a rock that formed at the birth of the solar system suggests that the meteorite incorporated material from a supernova. And that supports the idea that a supernova helped give birth to the solar system.


Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2005

Mike

--
Mike Jensen IMCA 4264
Jensen Meteorites
16730 E Ada PL
Aurora, CO 80017-3137
303-337-4361
website: www.jensenmeteorites.com

Received on Fri 13 May 2005 10:10:33 AM PDT