How to find meteorites? Experience from Arabia and Switzerland

by Prof. Beda A. Hofmann (Naturhistorisches Museum und Universität Bern)

Tuesday 27 Apr 2021, 16:45 → 18:00 Europe/Berlin

Zoom (DESY, Zeuthen)

Meteorites are fragments of asteroids and, rarely, of Moon and of Mars. Much of what we know about the materials and origin ofthe solar system has been deduced from meteorites. Therefore, 
locating new meteorites on Earth and understanding their histories is a scientific endeavour directly connected to the quest for understanding our Solar System. The talk will provide a summary of the results of 23 meteorites search campaigns conducted in Oman and Saudi Arabia since 2001, yielding more than 7000 individual finds. Examples of results obtained these space rocks will be shown, including a unique meteorite from the Moon. The second active meteorite project concerns the Twannberg strewn field in Switzerland, now in a totally different environment. Here, a strewn field with >1800 fragments of a very rare type of iron meteorite is present in a glacially overprinted landscape is investigated with the help of “citizen scientists”. Some of the challenges of meteorite field research both in Arabia and in Switzerland will be discussed.

 

This is a VIDEO COLLOQUIUM!

Connection details:

 https://desy.zoom.us/j/99616528733

Meeting ID: 996 1652 8733
Meeting Password: 733220

beda_hofmann_zoom_0.mp4

meteorites.JPG

PAcolloquium_Hofmann3_27April2021.pdf