[meteorite-list] Birth of Asteroids and Planets. (Was: The age of Mifflin. ?470 million years? Really?)

From: Meteorites USA <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:41:09 -0700
Message-ID: <4DA7DA75.8040602_at_meteoritesusa.com>

Sterling, List,

When does "age" actually begin?

Regards,
Eric


On 4/14/2011 10:24 PM, Sterling K. Webb wrote:
> It's the usual reporter scramble that results
> when a scientist tries to explain something
> more complicated than Brittany Spears or
> Charlie Sheen to a reporter.
>
> Mifflin's an L chondrite. John Valley and
> Noriko Kita have done a lot of work on the fossil
> L chondrites of the Ordovician period, which
> fell at rates 100 times greater than today's fall
> rates, apparently after the breakup of the L
> chondrite parent body sometime shortly before
> 470 million years ago.
>
> They must have tried to explain all this to the
> reporter instead being smart and saying "Yeah,
> it's a rock from outer space and it's really old,
> old as the solar system itself" and just letting
> it go at that.
>
> Sorta like what you would say to a five-year-old.
> Always a good idea to talk to reporters like they
> were five-year-olds. Don't try to make them
> handle too much.
>
> So, all of that got mushed together into this:
> "Scientists believe [it] was originally part of an
> asteroid fragment that separated 470 million
> years ago between Mars and Jupiter." (From
> the other local TV station.)
>
> Remember... Five-year-olds.
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Kerchner"
> <skyrockmeteorites at yahoo.com>
> To: "meteorite list" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:16 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] The age of Mifflin. ?470 million years? Really?
>
>
>> Hello all,
>> It the 470 million year age for the Mifflin meteorite correct? if
>> so, isn't that very young for a meteorite? I have been under the
>> impression that the average age of a meteorite was 4.57 Billion years
>> old I know that's an average, but isn't 470 million way too young?
>> Theres no way that it is so young, is there?
>> I read that in a couple articles online today. below is a link to
>> one of them.
>> http://www.wisn.com/r/27539805/detail.html?source=htv
>>
>>
>> Best Wishes,
>> Joe Kerchner
>> http://illinoismeteorites.com
>>
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Received on Fri 15 Apr 2011 01:41:09 AM PDT