Geologists from Bern University and from the Natural History Museum Bern have found more than 180 meteorites in Oman in January/February 2001. The most exciting find is a piece of Mars rock. This meteorite just received its name: Sayh al Uhaymir 094. Contrary to other finds of Mars meteorites in deserts, this meteorite is fully available to science. Detailed investigations are currently under way at Bern University and at collaborating institutions.
June 16th, 2001
Newly discovered Mars meteorite could be window into Red Planet Florida Today
The new meteorite was named Sayh al Uhaymir 094 after the region of desert where the team found it and more than 180 other meteorites. The team, in a statement, said they were certain it would contribute to rapidly growing knowledge of the planet. Interest increased in 1996 after a Martian meteorite found near the South Pole, known as Allen Hills 84001, showed possible remnants of life. But such arguments “are hardly taken as solid evidence today,” the research team said. Most earlier meteorites from Mars were found in the Antarctic before scientists turned their attention to deserts in recent years.
June 15th, 2001
Mars Meteorite Found in Oman
A fist-sized meteorite, one of only 18 rocks on Earth known to have come from Mars, has been found by Swiss scientists in the Oman desert — a prize discovery that could help determine if the planet ever sustained life. Scientists at the University of Bern announced the find Friday and said they are just beginning to examine the meteorite. Most of the other 17 Martian rocks have been snapped up by collectors, they said, so few are fully available for study.
June 13th, 2001
Martian meteorite may contain water
A meteorite found in the Western Sahara may contain water that could have come from below the surface of Mars, French researchers say. Discovered last December, meteorite NWA 817 weighs 104 grammes (three and a half ounces). It is the fourth Martian meteorite to be classified as a nakhlite because of its distinctive mineral composition.
June 12th, 2001
Newly-found meteorite may point to water under Martian surface
A meteorite found in the western Sahara contains water that may have come from below the surface of Mars, French researchers said Tuesday. The rock, weighing 104 grammes (three and a half ounces), was discovered by French meteorite hunters last December.
May 11th, 2001
Trade growing in stolen meteorites
Thieves may be stealing meteorites to order to feed a growing international trade, a BBC 5Live investigation has revealed. Collectors are willing to pay vast sums for rare fragments of rock from Mars or the moon and there is increasing concern that thieves are now stealing them at their behest. Meteorites, rock or metal fragments that have fallen to a planet’s surface from space, have long been valued by scientists. But now they are voraciously sought after by collectors and traders.
April 7th, 2001
Meteorites From Moon, Mars Found
Researchers have discovered two new examples of the rarest space rocks found on Earth: meteorites from the moon and Mars. The two rocks are the 15th and 17th meteorites to be found from the moon and Mars, respectively, making them the least common among the estimated 22,000 meteorites discovered on this planet. News of the discoveries was announced this month and will be reported in the July 2001 bulletin of the Meteoritical Society, an international organization devoted to the study of extraterrestrial material.