A comprehensive micro-Raman spectroscopic analysis of the Nakhla and Vaca Muerta meteorites is reported. The major and minor mineral components were identified from comparison with mineralogical standards and literature databases. The compositions of pyroxenes and olivines were obtained using only this technique and correlation data between band parameters and the chemical composition of refere...

Life on Mars still remains in the realm of science fiction, not solid science, according to Cal Poly Physics Professor Richard Frankel and his co-authors in an article to be published Wednesday (Nov. 21) in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Frankel and other members of his research team challenge NASA scientists' much-publicized announcement in 1996 that a Martian meteorite f...

The Orgueil meteorite has become one of the most well-studied carbonaceous meteorites, after it fell in France 150 yr ago. Extraterrestrial organic compounds such as amino acids and nucleobases in the parts per billion ranges were identified in Orgueil samples with supporting isotopic analyses. However, speculations of terrestrial contamination such as organic inclusions in the form of microbes...

Introduction: There has been recent interest in using magnetic susceptiblity to characterize and classify meteorites [1,2]. Measurements of magnetic susceptibility represent a fast, non-destructive and systematic way to categorize the rapidly expanding inventory of stony meteorites being discovered on Earth. Previous studies [1,2] have demonstrated that although magnetic susceptibility varies o...

An improved computer simulation program has been developed and used to re-measure the metallographic cooling rates of the IIIAB irons, the largest iron meteorite chemical group. The formation of this chemical group is attributed to fractional crystallization of a single molten metallic core during solidification. Group IIIAB irons cooling rates vary by a factor of 6 from 56 to 338 C/My. The coo...