This is only the second time an asteroid was observed with a telescope before it hit Earth and then was recovered as a meteorite. The other asteroid, 2008 TC3, turned out to be a rare ureilite with some fascinating characteristics.
Underwater Meteorite Search
An ambitious exploration happened today to find meteorites at the bottom of the ocean from a large fireball off the Washington coast. The best view of the fireball was probably from Ocean Shores, a childhood vacation spot for me. The only meteorite from Washington state that was witnessed to fall (called “falls” to distinguish them from “finds”) is Washougal, a lovely Howardite that fell in the summer of 1939.
‘Oumuamua: possible cometary activity?
Interesting new study indicating that interstellar object ‘Oumuamua shows non-gravitational accelerations, most likely from cometary activity. A previous study stated an upper bound on dust ejection of ~1 gram/second based on an estimate of the coma detection limit.
Hayabusa2 arrives at asteroid Ryugu
Amazing images as Hayabusa2 gets close to its target!
Our group looks forward to studying the Ryugu samples when they return to Earth in late 2020. In the meantime, we are analyzing meteorite analogs to the Hayabusa2 samples.
New Website is Complete!
Hello!
We have just completed the new website. Enjoy!