Tag Archives: meteorites

Micrometeorites: Key nutrient source for Mars life?

Posted on June 28, 2019 by rburnham

[Editor’s note: From a paper by Andrew Tomkins and six co-authors recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] High survivability of micrometeorites on Mars: Sites with enhanced availability of limiting nutrients • Micrometeorites are predicted to be far more … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Looking at Lumphanan

Posted on April 15, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2376, April 13, 2019. Curiosity’s Remote Micro-Imager took a look at the target that mission scientists have dubbed Lumphanan, tagged as a possible meteorite. Click the image to enlarge it. Sol 2376 raw images (from all cameras).

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Curiosity update: Hunting shiny things

Posted on November 29, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 2245-46, November 28, 2018, update by MSL scientist Suzanne Schwenzer: Curiosity woke up to Mr Rogers “Please would you be my neighbor” this morning to welcome InSight, and then got very busy at the Highfield drill site. Every plan … Continue reading →

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Is carbon in Mars meteorite Tissint biological?

Posted on December 3, 2014 by rburnham

Did Mars ever have life? Does it still? A meteorite from Mars has reignited the old debate. An international team that includes scientists from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne has published a paper in the scientific journal Meteoritics and … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Sol 640, May 25, 2014

Posted on May 27, 2014 by rburnham

Nickel-iron meteorites, as seen using Mastcam’s wide-angle (34mm) mode (top) and in closeup (100mm mode). NASA description: This image was taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 640 (2014-05-25 16:24:15 UTC).     NASA description: This … Continue reading →

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Impact glass stores biodata for millions of years

Posted on April 18, 2014 by rburnham

Bits of plant life encapsulated in molten glass by asteroid and comet impacts millions of years ago give geologists information about climate and life forms on the ancient Earth. Scientists exploring large fields of impact glass in Argentina suggest that … Continue reading →

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“Black Beauty” Mars meteorite unique

Posted on January 4, 2013 by rburnham

It’s young, it has been shattered and naturally recemented, and it’s about ten times richer in water than any other Mars meteorite. And if the scientists who studied it are right, it’s the also first meteorite to come from the … Continue reading →

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UV light makes methane from meteorites

Posted on June 12, 2012 by rburnham

Methane gas, which can arise from both biological and geological sources, was detected in the Martian atmosphere by observations from Earth-based telescopes in 2003 and from the Mars Express orbiter (2004). As methane breaks down relatively quickly under Martian conditions, … Continue reading →

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Airblast avalanches

Posted on December 12, 2011 by rburnham

The aerial blast wave from a meteorite impact can trigger dust avalanches in the vicinity, says a new paper published in Icarus. A group of scientists led by Kaylan Burleigh (University of Arizona) reached this conclusion after studying a cluster … Continue reading →

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Meteorites: Keys to bygone Mars climates

Posted on July 15, 2011 by rburnham

The sky falls on Mars, too, just as it does sometimes on Earth. In its long crosscountry drive over the pool table expanse of Meridiani Planum, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has encountered more than a dozen meteorites, all of them … Continue reading →

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