[meteorite-list] NPA 01-04-1988 Murchison Sheds Light on Origin, Wasson

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Daily Herald
City: Chicago, Illinois
Date: Monday, January 4, 1988
Page: Neighbor Section, Page 1

Meteorite sheds light on origins of galaxy

Associated Press

     NEW YORK - A meteorite has yielded extremely hard specks that roamed 
the cosmos before the sun and planets formed, and they may hold clues about 
distant stars and the solar system's birth, scientists say.
     The grains of silicon carbide offer "a bit of a peck at the rest of the 
galaxy," said Edward Anders, professor of chemistry at the University of 
Chicago.
     The material was apparently ejected by stars as gas, which then cooled 
to form the grains millions of years before the sun and planets appeared, he 
said in a recent telephone interview.
     The specks were captured in the condensing cloud of gas and dust that 
formed the sun, planets and meteors.
     Study of the specks may help in estimating how many stars contributed 
to the material that formed the solar system, Andecs said.  Scientists 
believe most of the material came from the explosion of one supernova, he 
said.
     The specks also may tell about conditions in the nuclear furnaces of 
distant stars, he said.  While the stars that produced the grains are long 
extinct, the lessons of the grains would apply to similar stars now shining, 
he said.
     Researchers said the particles probably came from stars in the "red 
giant" phase, one of the final stages in the life of a normal star. 
Preliminary study suggests they came from at least three stars or three 
regions of a single star, Anders said.
     The specks range in size up to a micron, which is about one-hundredth 
the width of a human hair.
     Discovery of the silicon carbide specks in a meteorite found in 
Australia was reported in a recent issue of the British journal Nature by 
Anders and colleagues at the University of Chicago, and Washington 
University and the Monsanto Research Center in St. Louis.
     On Earth, silicon carbide is manufactured for use as an abrasive 
Scientists had detected silicon in outer space, but this is the first known 
delivery to Earth via meteorite, researchers said.
      Materials from different stars often mixed together in the condensing 
cloud that formed the solar system, making it harder to analyze the clues 
they hold about individual stars, said meteorite expert John T. Wasson.
     But with the new study, "it appears here we have some of the most 
pristine material that has even been discovered," said Wasson.

(end)

I guess this is referring to Murchison...can someone confirm this.

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my 
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list 
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is 
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.