[meteorite-list] UK's New Synchrotron Used To Examine Meteorites

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfm?cit_id=1505770&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1

Synchrotron opens its doors
scenta

The UK's new synchrotron facility opens its doors 
for business and welcomes its very first scientific 
users this week.  

Top academic teams from Durham, Oxford, Leicester 
and London have been selected to be the first users 
of the Diamond Light Source, one of the brightest 
sources of light in the world.

It will enable them to find out more than ever before 
about the secret structure of the world around us.

These principal projects were selected from a total 
of 127 proposals received last year from the 
synchrotron user community.

The first users possess an extensive knowledge of 
synchrotron science and bring a range of research 
projects to Diamond from cancer research to 
unravelling the mysteries of the solar system.

This will provide Diamond scientists with real 
projects to assist in the six-month period of fine-
tuning of the first experimental stations that will 
secure a place for Diamond on the international 
research stage.

Dr Paul Schofield, a researcher in mineral sciences 
in the Department of Mineralogy at the Natural History 
Museum, will be using Diamond's X-rays to examine 
samples from a meteorite called Santa Catharina, in 
order to gain an insight into the history of our Solar 
System.

Examining the composition and structure of the minerals 
contained in Santa Catharina will lead to clues 
regarding the meteorite's early life and consequently 
the conditions that shaped the development of the Solar 
System.

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