[meteorite-list] Name of Texas Fall: Ash Creek

[MeteorHntr at aol.com]

Chris,

If I write a scientific paper, I  will call it Ash Creek.  For commercial 
purposes, if it isn't illegal, I  will keep calling it West.  

After all, that is the purpose of  having synonyms is so that you can call 
things by other names,  right?

There will be no confusion to me. I don't think anyone else in the  
community will be confused.  Anyone that says "Ash Creek" we will know  what they 
are saying.  Anyone that uses the "West" name, we will know  what they are 
saying as well.  Just like if they say it is from the "United  States" or they 
say it is from "America."

I agree with Mark that some  meteorites that have already been sold with 
the name "West" might get "lost" in  the TKW tallies.  Some collections 
(public and private) will have "West" on  their labels instead of "Ash Creek."  
But 75 years from now, it will be  just as easy to sort out as "Toluca" on a 
Glen Huss label is from "Xiquipilco"  on a Nininger label... they are the 
same rock.

The only confusion will  probably be in the collector market, and I don't 
think the NomCom cares all that  much about the collector market, or that the 
name "West" has been used in all  the media references up until now.  Just 
Google Search "West  Meteorite" then search "Ash Creek Meteorite."  If they 
did care, the  official name would have been assigned within a few days and 
this minor  confusion would have easily been avoided.  Their priority is for 
the  scientific side of things, not the pop culture side of things.   

Steve Arnold
Arkansas









In a  message dated 4/16/2009 11:33:08 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
clp at alumni.caltech.edu writes:
Perhaps those who seek to commercially trade  new falls within the first 
few 
weeks of recovery need to be a bit more  careful with _their_ nomenclature. 
There is a reason why a formal naming  process exists (and face it, "West" 
is 
a horrible name that should never  have been used). IMO, if you're going to 
sell early, you shouldn't give it a  name at all, just a description ("the 
recent, as-yet-unnamed fall near West,  Texas").

I can say with some confidence, as somebody who only deals with  meteorites 
in scientific collections, that this name "change" isn't going to  cause 
any 
confusion at all.

Chris  

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