Meteorites
Monthly Archive: December Mete
Meteorites
As the ROM's photographer, I get to see and handle some really neat things.
A Super Event and a Super Moon
The libration of the Moon over a single lunar month. Image credit: Tom Ruen
For all the space junkies and aspiring astronauts, the ROM is holding its first ever Space Weekend on May 5 and 6…it’s going to be out of this world!
Meteorite of the month: martian meteorite NWA 5298
By Brendt C. Hyde, ROM Mineralogy Technician
Meteorites can come from a variety of locations. Most often we think of them as pieces of rock ejected off of asteroids during big collisions in space. However, these collisions also happen on the planets and moons in our solar system. The Earth has luckily been able to collect a number of meteorites from our moon and from the planet Mars. This month we take a look at a rock from Mars.
Meteorite of the month: Springwater pallasite
The world's largest specimen of the Springwater pallasite meteorite.
Meteorite or “Meteor-wrong”?
ROM Earth Scientists receive dozens of requests each year to identify possible meteorites. This is especially the case when there is a spectacular fireball similar to the one which recently streaked across southern Ontario on December 12 of this year (the video was captured by astronomers at the University of Western Ontario). Do you think you have found a space rock?
How Do I Identify a Space Rock?
Originally published in ROM Magazine, Fall 2010.
I found a blackened rock that I think might be a meteorite. How can I tell for sure?
Look Up! Annual August Meteor Showers Begin
First Glimpse of 2011 Perseid Meteor Shower. (NASA/MSFC/Meteoroid Environment Office)
A look to the skies tonight will be a larger treat than in past years as the Perseid meteor showers begin their yearly August show in the night skies. Unfortunately this year the peak of the show will be on August 12, when a full moon is scheduled, so viewing will be hampered.
Dawn Probe to Rendezvous with Asteroid Vesta!
By Brendt Hyde, Mineralogy Technician
Our solar system is a very busy place! Aside from the 9 (no, make that 8!) major planets and their moons, there are 5 dwarf planets, 3 massive asteroid belts containing tens of thousands of smaller irregular bodies, and an untold number of comets.
