Joan Henley, geoscientist from
Geoscience Information,Geological Survey of NSW
is checking the meteorite display at East Maitland Library

A Meteorite Display was installed at East Maitland Library by staff from the Geological Survey of NSW to commemorate the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and support Earth Science Week. The display was organised using specimens from the Geological Survey collections.

Meteorites are important because they encapsulate some of the nebula mix that formed our Sun and the planets of our Solar System. They are time capsules from the birth of our Solar System and are remnants of its first geological processes. This is very evident in chondritic meteorites which clearly show rounded features that were globules of molten material from the primal nebula mix. Other meteorites demonstrate various types of rock formation at different points in time and space during the evolution of the gaseous dust cloud into a planetary system.

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was declared by the 62nd Assembly of the United Nations. It celebrates the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century. Global and local activities, such as the Meteorite Display, are used to engage people to focus on their place in the Universe through the sky.

In keeping with the Climate Change theme of Earth Science Week, the display also addresses the role of comet impacts on the Earth’s climate. Dramatic species extinction events, such as the one that ended the era of the dinosaurs, are thought to have been caused by comets impacting the Earth and creating processes leading to long term climate change. Research is now tracing smaller climate change events, such as the Pleistocene 'Big Freeze' and perhaps even the Dark Ages, to meteorite or comet impacts.

A meteorite identification handout and a meteor sighting form are available from the library desk. The display will be on view until 30th October.