[meteorite-list] World Record Meteorite Visits Fort Worth

From: Notkin <geoking_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri May 19 14:57:08 2006
Message-ID: <d5db7dcd6889444a7a51bcf34930f76f_at_notkin.net>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2006


?WORLD RECORD METEORITE? VISITS FORT WORTH
The 1,430-pound pallasite meteorite found in Kansas and reported on by
ABC, NBC, CBS, and ?USA Today? is on display at the Noble Planetarium
        
A giant space rock found in a farmer?s field by professional meteorite
hunter Steve Arnold, 40, is the highlight of a new exhibition in the
Rotunda of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

The three quarter-ton visitor from outer space, known as a Brenham
meteorite, was discovered in Kansas in October 2005 using sophisticated
metal detecting equipment. It is millions of years old, and has
captured the attention of the media around the world, with appearances
on MSNBC.com, the Discovery Channel, the Weather Channel, the NBC
?Today Show,? and many others.

Brenham meteorites, named after the nearby Kiowa County, Kansas
township, were first found in the area during the 1880s. Brenham
meteorites are on permanent display in the American Museum of Natural
History in New York, the Field Museum in Chicago, and other prominent
institutions. They are of a rare type, known as pallasites, which
account for only 1% of all known meteorites. Pallasites consist of a
nickel-iron matrix with colorful embedded olivine crystals (the
semi-precious gemstone peridot) and are very beautiful when cut and
polished. Mr. Arnold?s discovery is the largest pallasite ever found in
America, and the largest oriented pallasite meteorite ever found
anywhere in the world. An oriented meteorite is one which has traveled
through Earth?s atmosphere without tumbling, thereby forming a
parabolic or ?nose cone? shape as its surface melted. Oriented
meteorites are extremely rare and highly prized by museums and private
collectors.

Fort Worth has a unique place in meteorite history. Prominent local
businessman, the late Oscar Monnig was one of the world?s foremost
meteorite enthusiasts. He donated his entire collection to Texas
Christian University, where it is today housed in the Oscar E. Monnig
Meteorite Gallery. Steve Arnold, and his partner Philip Mani, an oil
and gas attorney and geologist from San Antonio, have themselves
enjoyed a long association with Fort Worth, working closely with Dr.
Art Ehlmann and Teresa Moss, Curator and Director, respectively, of the
Monnig Gallery. Dr. Ehlmann, together with Linda Krouse and Vishal
Malhotra of the Noble Planetarium, joined Mr. Arnold at the Brenham
excavation, where Dr. Ehlmann recovered a 320-lb specimen?also on
exhibit in Fort Worth. Dr. Ehlmann?s first ever meteorite find was
140-lb Brenham, discovered last November with Mr. Arnold and Mr. Mani.

The World Record Meteorite is joined by a number of other recent
meteorite finds for the Noble Planetarium display. The exhibition is
sponsored by Lockheed Martin, and further information is available
online at:

http://www.fwmuseum.org/noble/events.html

Dr. Ehlmann described Mr. Arnold?s discovery as ?the most significant
American meteorite find in decades.?
Received on Fri 19 May 2006 02:57:04 PM PDT