Planetary scientists sharing ideas and discoveries.

Planetary Science Research Discoveries (PSRD) is an educational site sharing the latest research by NASA-sponsored scientists on meteorites, asteroids, planets, moons, and other materials in our Solar System. The website is supported by the Cosmochemistry Program of NASA's Science Mission Directorate and by Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium and is a vital link for planetary and space sciences, and for learning how science works.

Supported by NASA's SMD Cosmochemistry Program and Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium. RSS feed Share

Archive of Meteorite Articles

Articles listed by publication date.

DATE POSTED	HEADLINE ARTICLES	PDF VERSIONS
30 APRIL 2013	Meteoritic Minerals Tell a Story of Multistage Cooling, Break-up, and Reassembly of an Asteroid by G. Jeffrey Taylor Compositional variations in minerals in H-chondrites indicate at least two vastly different cooling rates at different temperatures, suggesting fragmentation, cooling of the fragments, and reassembly into a second-generation rubble pile.
FEB 2013	ANSMET 2012-2013 Field Season Yields New Meteorite Samples by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Hundreds of new specimens will be available for research.
FEB 2013	Meteoritics & Planetary Science—Special Issue by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Articles in the December 2012 issue cover cosmochemical research presented at the 2011 Workshop on Formation of the First Solids in the Solar System.
JAN 2013	Chondrule Formation by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Data from oxygen-isotopic conpositions and oxidation states of chondrule olivines in CR chondrites.
30 JAN 2013	New Martian Meteorite is Similar to Typical Martian Crust by G. Jeffrey Taylor A newly-identified Martian meteorite from Northwest Africa is not like other Martian meteorites, but has a chemical composition similar to the average Martian crust.
10 DEC 2012	Zinc Isotopes Provide Clues to Volatile Loss During Moon Formation by G. Jeffrey Taylor Ratios of zinc isotopes indicate evaporation of zinc (and other volatiles) during formation of the Moon. Includes new zinc isotopic data for Martian meteorites.
16 NOV 2012	Dating Transient Heating Events in the Solar Protoplanetary Disk by G. Jeffrey Taylor Startlingly precise dating of components in primitive meteorites indicate contemporaneous formation of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules.
26 OCT 2012	Exploring the Mantle of Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor and Linda M. V. Martel Cosmochemistry and geophysics experts meet to discuss what we know and do not yet know about the composition, structure, and evolution of the Martian mantle.
OCT 2012	Discovery of Native Mercury and Mercury Sulfide in Tieschitz Meteorite by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Microbeads of native Hg indicate cold accretion.
31 JULY 2012	How Much Water is Inside Mars? by G. Jeffrey Taylor The interior of Mars appears to be as wet as the interior of Earth.
JULY 2012	Water, Carbonaceous Chondrites, and Earth by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The drive continues to understand all the possible sources of Earth's water.
JUNE 2012	Olympic-caliber Mineral Finder by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - A new mineral, panguite, formed during the birth of our Solar System has been found in the Allende meteorite.
MAY 2012	Space Station Crew Answers Question about Micrometeorites by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - On the day Space Station astronauts opened the hatch and entered the SpaceX Dragon capsule for the first time, PSRD asked: how does micrometeorite bombardment affect spacecraft?
APRIL 2012	Why the Definition of Crystal Changed by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The discovery of quasicrystals revolutionized the science of crystal chemistry, and one of them shows evidence of an extraterrestrial origin.
FEB 2012	ANSMET 2011-2012 Field Season in the Miller Range, Antarctica by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - 302 meteorites collected for scientific study.
JAN 2012	A Summer Fall by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Martian meteorite, Tissint, fell in Morocco in July, 2011.
JAN 2012	Soluble Organics of the Bells Meteorite by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - An inventory of prebiotic, soluble organic compounds in an anomalous CM chondrite.
15 DEC 2011	Formation of Carbonate Minerals in Martian Meteorite ALH 84001 from Cool Water Near the Surface of Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor A new approach to thermometry using isotopic compositions of carbon and oxygen indicates that carbonate minerals in Martian meteorite ALH 84001 formed at 18 ± 4 ^oC.
30 NOV 2011	Festival on the Formation of the First Solids in the Solar System by G. Jeffrey Taylor and Linda M. V. Martel Cosmochemists, astronomers, and astrophysical modelers shared data and ideas about the formation of the materials making up the Solar System.
22 JUNE 2011	A Traveling CAI by G. Jeffrey Taylor Oxygen isotopes show that a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion wandered throughout the inner Solar System before being incorporated into an asteroid.
JUNE 2011	Looking After and Preserving NASA's Extraterrestrial Samples by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The work of NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office.
JUNE 2011	A Meteorite with Up and Down Markers by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - Metal-sulfide nodules and vesicles aligned in asteroid's gravitational field.
MAY 2011	Discovery of New Mineral, Krotite, in a CAI by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - CaAl₂O₄ named after Alexander N. Krot.
7 APRIL 2011	Wet, Carbonaceous Asteroids: Altering Minerals, Changing Amino Acids by G. Jeffrey Taylor Aqueous alteration in asteroids containing organic compounds leads to formation of hydrous minerals and changes in the mix of amino acids.
DEC 2010	Asteroid Tracked -- Meteorites Found! by Linda M. V. Martel CosmoSparks Report - The unfolding story of meteorite Almahata Sitta.
30 NOV 2010	Supernova Confetti in Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Pre-solar grains carrying anomalous chromium-54 show evidence for formation in a supernova.
30 SEPT 2010	Unraveling the Origin of the Lunar Highlands Crust by Linda M. V. Martel Lunar meteorites contain clasts that may plausibly be samples of post-magma-ocean plutons that helped build the highlands crust.
1 JULY 2010	Damp Moon Rising by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cosmochemists find more evidence for water inside the Moon, showing that it is not the bone-dry place we thought.
10 JUNE 2010	Formation of Stony-Iron Meteorites in Early Giant Impacts by Edward Scott, Joseph Goldstein, and Jijin Yang Cosmochemical studies and dynamical models of hit-and-run planetary collisions suggest a new origin for the stony-iron meteorites called pallasites.
21 MAY 2010	A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite by G. Jeffrey Taylor New isotopic analyses show that famous Martian meteorite ALH 84001 formed 4.09 billion years ago, not 4.50 billion years ago as originally reported.
30 APRIL 2010	Asteroid, Meteor, Meteorite by Linda M. V. Martel Detected in space less than a day before hitting Earth, the Almahata Sitta meteorite from asteroid 2008 TC₃ gives clues to the complex evolution of small asteroids.
21 JAN 2010	A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System by Gregory A. Brennecka The presence of short-lived isotope Curium-247 in the early Solar System complicates the job of dating the earliest events in the solar nebula.
13 NOV 09	An Even More Precise View of Aluminum-26 in the Solar Nebula by G. Jeffrey Taylor New, precise analyses of the short-lived isotope aluminum-26 indicate it was distributed uniformly throughout the early solar system, an important clue to its origin.
26 OCT 09	Kaidun--A Meteorite with Everything but the Kitchen Sink by Linda M. V. Martel This unique breccia is called a single-stone meteorite collection.
18 SEPT 09	The Growing Diversity of Lunar Basalts by G. Jeffrey Taylor A lunar basaltic meteorite adds complexity to the already complicated story of mare basalt volcanism on the Moon.
6 JULY 09	Better Know A Meteorite Collection: Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom by Linda M. V. Martel PSRD highlights places and people around the world who play central roles in caring for and analyzing meteorites.
25 JUNE 09	The Complicated Geologic History of Asteroid 4 Vesta by G. Jeffrey Taylor Meteorites from asteroid 4 Vesta show that it contains patches of granite-like rock.
11 MAY 09	Better Know A Meteorite Collection: Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria by Linda M. V. Martel PSRD highlights places and people around the world who play central roles in caring for and analyzing meteorites.
8 MAY 09	Mars Crust: Made of Basalt by G. Jeffrey Taylor Chemical analyses of rocks on the Martian surface indicate that the Martian crust was built of basalt lava flows not much different from those on Earth.
19 FEB 09	More Evidence for Multiple Meteorite Magmas by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cosmochemists show that a pair of meteorites formed in an asteroid that erupted a newly-recognized type of asteroidal magma.
20 NOV 08	Tiny Molten Droplets, Dusty Clouds, and Planet Formation by G. Jeffrey Taylor Roughly constant sodium concentration during chondrule crystallization suggests that these molten droplets formed in regions of the solar nebula that were enriched in rocky dust.
8 JULY 08	Heating, Cooling, and Cratering: One Asteroid's Complicated Story by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cooling rate data indicate that the H-chondrite parent asteroid was deeply cratered as it cooled slowly.
30 MAY 08	Meteorites Found on Mars by Linda M. V. Martel No surprise that there are meteorites on other planets. Now that we've seen them on Mars, what do we know about them and what does their geochemistry tell us about the environment where they landed?
19 DEC 07	Chips Off an Old Lava Flow by G. Jeffrey Taylor Lunar meteorite Kalahari 009 contains fragments of basalt about 4.35 billion years old, a record-breaking old age for mare basalt.
27 NOV 07	Getting to Know Vesta by Linda M. V. Martel Scientists are primed with geochemical data from HED meteorites for Dawn's encounter with asteroid 4 Vesta.
30 OCT 07	Did an Impact Make the Mysterious Microscopic Magnetite Crystals in ALH 84001? by G. Jeffrey Taylor Tiny crystals of magnetite in Martian meteorite ALH 84001 might have been made when shock waves decomposed iron carbonate.
17 SEPT 07	Melted Crumbs from Asteroid Vesta by Linda M. V. Martel Researchers studying some of the rarest of the smallest meteorites call them melted crumbs from asteroid Vesta.
6 JULY 07	The Sun's Crowded Delivery Room by G. Jeffrey Taylor Isotopes in meteorites suggest that the Sun formed in a dense cluster of stars.
18 APRIL 07	When Worlds Really Did Collide by Edward Scott, Jijin Yang, and Joseph Goldstein Cosmochemical studies and dynamical models of protoplanetary collisions suggest a new origin for iron meteorites.
25 JAN 07	Organic Globules from the Cold Far Reaches of the Proto-Solar Disk by G. Jeffrey Taylor Hollow organic globules in the Tagish Lake meteorite probably formed far from the proto-Sun, maybe even in interstellar space before our Solar System formed.
19 DEC 06	Squeezing Meteorites to Reveal the Martian Mantle by G. Jeffrey Taylor Experiments at high temperature and pressure give clues to the composition of the interior of Mars.
21 JULY 06	Iron Meteorites as the Not-So-Distant Cousins of Earth by William F. Bottke and Linda M. V. Martel Numerical simulations suggest that some iron meteorites are fragments of the long lost precursor material that formed the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
14 JUNE 06	Fossil Meteorite Unearthed From Crater by Linda M. V. Martel A meteorite of unusual chondritic composition was found in a highly unlikely place, challenging how we think about colossal impact events on Earth.
26 MAY 06	Interstellar Organic Matter in Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Carbonaceous chondrites contain organic compounds with high deuterium/hydrogen ratios, suggesting they formed in interstellar space.
31 JAN 06	Cosmochemistry from Nanometers to Light-Years by G. Jeffrey Taylor Cosmochemists and astronomers test theories on the formation of stars and planets.
27 DEC 05	Magma and Water on Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor Martian meteorites tell us part of the fascinating story about when volcanoes erupted and water flowed.
21 OCT 05	Little Chondrules and Giant Impacts by G. Jeffrey Taylor Chondrules in metal-rich meteorites formed a couple of million years after most other chondrules, possibly by impact between moon-sized or larger objects.
30 SEPT 05	Portales Valley: Not Just Another Ordinary Chondrite by Alex Ruzicka and Melinda Hutson A melted meteorite gives a snapshot of the heat and shock that wracked an asteroid during the first stages of differentiation.
29 JULY 05	Martian Meteorites Record Surface Temperatures on Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor Gases trapped in Martian meteorites indicate that Mars has been a cold desert for a long, long time.
31 MAY 05	Making Sense of Droplets Inside Droplets by G. Jeffrey Taylor The vexing presence of chondrules inside supposedly older calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in chondrites makes sense if the CAIs were remelted.
13 APRIL 05	Antarctic Guide to Martian Weathering by Linda M. V. Martel Soils in the Antarctic Dry Valleys contain traces of silicate alteration products and secondary salts much like those found in Martian meteorites.
31 OCT 04	New Lunar Meteorite Provides its Lunar Address and Some Clues about Early Bombardment of the Moon by G. Jeffrey Taylor A newly discovered meteorite from the Moon provides a detailed record of its history, allowing scientists to make a reasonable guess about where it came from on the Moon and to test ideas for the timing of early impact bombardment.
26 AUG 04	Meteorite Shower in Park Forest, Illinois by Linda M. V. Martel An L5 chondrite strewnfield is centered at Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago.
5 JULY 04	New Mineral Proves an Old Idea about Space Weathering by Linda M. V. Martel A newly discovered vapor-deposited iron silicide in a lunar meteorite has been named hapkeite.
1 JULY 04	Carbonates in ALH 84001: Part of the Story of Water on Mars by Catherine M. Corrigan The study of multi-generational carbonate assemblages in Martian meteorite ALH 84001 reveals a complex history of crystal formation, growth, and alteration.
23 JUNE 04	The Multifarious Martian Mantle by G. Jeffrey Taylor Detailed analyses of Martian meteorites reveal that the planet's interior preserves distinctive regions that formed 4.5 billion years ago.
1 JUNE 04	Silicate Stardust in Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Silicates are the most abundant solids in disks around growing stars, but presolar silicates have not been found in even the most primitive meteorite--until now.
2 APRIL 04	Asteroid Heating: A Shocking View by G. Jeffrey Taylor Mineral intergrowths in chondritic meteorites may indicate that some asteroids were heated by impact.
9 MAR 04	Tiny Traces of a Big Asteroid Breakup by Linda M. V. Martel Fossil meteorites and chromite grains record a hundred-fold increase in the number of meteorites that fell 480 million years ago compared to the meteorite influx today.
21 MAY 03	Triggering the Formation of the Solar System by G. Jeffrey Taylor New data from meteorites indicates that formation of the Solar System was triggered by a supernova.
28 APRIL 03	Asteroidal Lava Flows by G. Jeffrey Taylor Meteorite studies indicate that we have pieces of lava flows from at least five asteroids.
23 JAN 03	QUE 93148: A Part of the Mantle of Asteroid 4 Vesta? by Christine Floss A tiny meteorite tells a story of melting in the deep mantle of a big asteroid.
12 DEC 02	Tagish Lake -- A Meteorite from the Far Reaches of the Asteroid Belt by David W. Mittlefehldt A new type of primitive meteorite with much to tell us about the formation of the solar system.
24 OCT 02	The First Rock in the Solar System by Steven B. Simon An aggregate of corundum, hibonite, and perovskite may be among the first rocks to form in the Solar System.
30 SEPT 02	Using Aluminum-26 as a Clock for Early Solar System Events by Ernst Zinner Correspondence between ²⁶Al and Pb-Pb ages shows that ²⁶Al records a detailed record of events in the early solar system.
25 SEPT 02	Dating the Earliest Solids in our Solar System by Alexander N. Krot Lead isotopic analyses give absolute formation ages of Ca-Al-rich inclusions and chondrules.
30 AUG 02	The Wet, Oxidizing Crust of Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor Analysis of isotopes and oxide minerals in Martian meteorites indicate that many magmas interacted with a wet, oxidizing crust as they oozed from the Martian mantle to its reddish surface.
13 MAY 02	Resolution of a Big Argument About Tiny Magnetic Minerals in Martian Meteorite by Edward R. D. Scott and David J. Barber Magnetic minerals in Martian meteorite ALH 84001 formed as a result of impact heating and decomposition of carbonate. They were never used as compasses by Martian microorganisms.
28 FEB 02	Searching Antarctic Ice for Meteorites by Linda M. V. Martel Silver anniversary season: The vigorous life and times of the ANSMET team at Meteorite Hills resulted in a new set of 336 meteorites collected off the ice.
26 FEB 02	The Composition of Asteroid 433 Eros by G. Jeffrey Taylor X-rays and reflected light suggest that asteroid 433 Eros is similar in composition to the most common type of meteorite--maybe.
3 DEC 01	Oxygen Isotopes Give Clues to the Formation of Planets, Moons, and Asteroids by Edward R. D. Scott As they formed from gas and dust near the Sun, grains in some meteorites acquired oxygen that originated in numerous other stars that shone long before our solar system was born.
7 NOV 01	Meteorites on Ice by Linda M. V. Martel Antarctic meteorites provide a continuous and readily available supply of extraterrestrial materials, stimulating new research and ideas in cosmochemistry, planetary geology, astronomy, and astrobiology.
24 APRIL 01	Gullies and Canyons, Rocks and Experiments: The Mystery of Water on Mars by G. Jeffrey Taylor The combination of analyses of Martian meteorites and laboratory experiments helps scientists understand how water in magma has changed the Martian crust and surface.
2 MAR 01	Relicts from the Birth of the Solar System by G. Jeffrey Taylor Rapidly cooled silicate droplets found in unusual meteorites may have formed directly from the cloud of gas and dust surrounding the young Sun.
24 JAN 01	Lunar Meteorites and the Lunar Cataclysm by Barbara A. Cohen Dating of impact melts in lunar meteorites supports the idea that the Moon was intensely bombarded about 3.9 billion years ago.
30 SEPT 00	The Oldest Metal in the Solar System by G. Jeffrey Taylor Grains of metallic iron in some chondritic meteorites condensed from hot clouds of gas and dust while the Sun was forming.
24 MAY 00	Liquid Water on Mars: The Story from Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Martian meteorites may have reacted with liquid water on Mars intermittently during the past 650 million years.
10 MAR 00	Flash Heating by G. Jeffrey Taylor Extremely rapid heating of rocky materials in a furnace is possible, making it feasible to study the formation of melted droplets in meteorites.
17 DEC 99	Difficult Experiments on Weird Rocks by G. Jeffrey Taylor Melting experiments on oxygen-depleted meteorites give clues about magma compositions and core formation in asteroids.
24 NOV 99	Purple Salt and Tiny Drops of Water in Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Two meteorites contain crystals of sodium chloride that have trapped tiny drops of ancient salty water.
24 AUG 99	Honeycombed Asteroids by G. Jeffrey Taylor Asteroids have lower densities than expected, probably because they have been disrupted and then reassembled into porous rubble piles.
30 JULY 99	Fossils Blowing in the Wind: More Contamination of Antarctic Meteorites by G. Jeffrey Taylor Terrestrial microfossils occur in cracks in Antarctic meteorites, making it difficult to search for extraterrestrial life in meteorites.
20 JULY 99	An Adulterated Martian Meteorite by G. Jeffrey Taylor Martian meteorite EETA79001 may have formed by impact melting and mixing of other Martian rocks, not by simple igneous activity as originally thought.
3 JUNE 99	Martian Organic Matter in ALH84001? by G. Jeffrey Taylor Indigenous organic compounds in ALH84001 may be from meteorite bombardment of the surface of Mars.
21 APRIL 99	30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: Some Highlights by G. Jeffrey Taylor The annual LPSC featured bacteria, new views of the Moon, and an intriguing new meteorite.
8 FEB 99	From a Cloud of Gas and Dust to an Asteroid with Percolating Hot Water by G. Jeffrey Taylor Isotopes of manganese and chromium indicate that chemical reactions involving hot water altered minerals on water-bearing asteroids during the same time interval that other asteroids were melted, between 7 and 16 million years after the first solids formed in the Solar System.
12 NOV 98	Dry Droplets of Fiery Rain by G. Jeffrey Taylor Experiments test an idea for the origin of droplets of rocky material melted before the planets formed.
17 FEB 98	Organic Compounds in Martian Meteorites May Be Terrestrial Contaminants by A. J. T. Jull Carbon-14 measurements indicate that most of the organic compounds in martian meteorite ALH84001 were acquired on Earth, not Mars, weakening the case for fossil martian life in the meteorite.
18 DEC 97	Fossils in Martian Meteorite: Real or Imagined? by G. Jeffrey Taylor Some scientists suggest that the small, wormy structures in martian meteorite ALH84001 are features of the crystals in the rock, decorated with artifacts introduced during sample preparation, not nanofossils. The discoverers of the fossil-like objects disagree.
22 AUG 97	Testing the Evidence for Life on Mars: NASA and NSF Fund New Studies of Martian Meteorite by G. Jeffrey Taylor Newly awarded grants will fund 23 projects to further analyze martian meteorite ALH84001 and the details that led to last year's announcement of possible ancient martian life.
8 JULY 97	Moving Stars and Shifting Sands of Presolar History by Donald D. Clayton Meteorites contain tiny grains of minerals cast off from ancient stars before the birth of our own Solar System. These grains tell a story of element formation, motions inside stars, and migration of stars in the Galaxy.
22 MAY 97	Shocked Carbonates may Spell N-o L-i-f-e in Martian Meteorite ALH84001 by Edward R. D. Scott Evidence for redistribution of carbonates by shock casts doubt on fossil life in martian meteorite.
22 MAY 97	Low-temperature Origin of Carbonates Consistent with Life in ALH84001 by G. Jeffrey Taylor Evidence from magnetism and isotopes consistent with life in martian meteorite.
31 MAR 97	Life on Mars--The Debate Continues by G. Jeffrey Taylor Scientists continue their search for answers to the question of fossil life in a martian meteorite. Have we found evidence for life, nonbiologic processes or contamination? The great debate is far from over.
31 MAR 97	Not Quite a Meeting of the Minds by G. Jeffrey Taylor The debate about life in martian meteorite ALH 84001 at the 28th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference was vigorous. Some investigators will turn out to be right, others wrong, but there will be no losers.
21 DEC 96	Meteorites from Mars, Rocks from Canada by Rachel C. Friedman There is more to Mars rocks than suspected fossils. Scientists are using ancient lava flows in eastern Ontario to understand the formation of a group of meteorites from Mars.
18 OCT 96	Life on Mars? by G. Jeffrey Taylor A group of scientists, headed by Dr. David McKay of Johnson Space Center, have made a case for ancient life on Mars based on features in a meteorite found in Antarctica. Do we indeed have evidence of life on Mars?

	[ About PSRD \| Archive \| CosmoSparks \| Search \| Subscribe ] [ Glossary \| General Resources \| Comments \| Top of page ]
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu psrd@higp.hawaii.edu