All across the globe, rocks fall from the sky. While most burn up harmlessly or land with a thud, some have the force to alter the planet and life on it. Our interest in meteorites isn’t just because of these impacts or the fact that UT Dallas’s mascot is Temoc the comet. Because they are rocks from outer space that have made it to Earth’s surface, meteorites tell us how and when the Solar System formed, and a few even provide samples of Mars and the Moon. Meteorites are also the oldest things we can hold, dating back to 4 and a half billion years ago! Just holding such a specimen in their hand can be the spark that motivates a student to learn more about our amazing Solar System. This was certainly the case for students taking advantage of educational opportunities provided by the new Meteorite Education and Research Lab at the University of Texas at Dallas.
In the UTD Geosciences Department, we offer a unique course called Comets Love Meteorites. The class explains how we describe and classify meteorites, where they come from, and what they can tell us about the Solar System. It also gives students the opportunity to work with thin sections and hand specimens of different meteorites. When learning about the classification schemes, students hold a chondritic meteorite in their hands and then examine its stony mineral composition through a microscope. When studying iron meteorites, they can have in their palm fragments of the core of a destroyed asteroid. This hands-on connection in the classroom is uncommon because most meteorites are kept behind glass in museums or locked away in private collections and research labs. The UTD Meteorite Education and Research Lab has a small collection of meteorites that students are encouraged to examine. Our collection spans a wide range of types and international origins. We also have a large sample cut from a 40 lb chondrite provided by the Perot Museum of Nature and Science here in Dallas. The lab even borrows thin sections of some NASA meteorites for students to study. Some students are so enamored, they volunteer to catalog samples; others analyze them with an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, or XRF, to determine aspects of their chemical composition. The Meteorite Education and Research Lab also holds weekly meetings to discuss the progress of the ever-growing team. We invite the community to bring in rocks they suspect are of extraterrestrial origin to do a few tests and determine what they have. While they often have a much more local origin, such as discarded slag, this link between citizens and higher education is valuable to both.
This hands-on work done in the lab and class, with the opportunity and experience it entails, is irreplaceable in the academic environment, as is the information we glean from the studies by devoted UT Dallas students and the lab tools they use.
We hope you enjoyed learning a little about the UTD Meteorite Education and Research Lab. We ask you to consider donating funds or meteorites to expand the abilities of the lab and the impact we are able to have on students. Please join our Facebook group, “Rocks from Space,” for more information and updates.