At 6 p.m. Saturday, June 7, astronomer Gary Fujihara will discuss “Meteoritics: The Science of Rocks from Space” at the next Universe Tonight program at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station.
At 6 p.m. Saturday, June 7, astronomer Gary Fujihara will discuss “Meteoritics: The Science of Rocks from Space” at the next Universe Tonight program at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station.
If you ever wanted to learn more about meteorites, drive up the mountain to listen as Fujihara shares his knowledge and experiences with the flying objects in the night sky.
Meteorites are rocks that dropped from space, surviving their fiery deliverance onto the surface of Earth. Unlike the rocks found on Earth’s crust, many of these denizens of space remained pristine and preserved much in the state they began. This allows scientists to extract clues from the stones’ mineralogical and chemical makeup, and helps establish theories about the formation and evolution of the solar system.
Fujihara will be able to answer such questions as how do we know their origins and are there other parent bodies of meteorites? What are meteor showers and do they produce meteorites? Where are most meteorites found? Have meteorites ever hit something or someone? What kinds of meteorites are there and what do they look like? How do I know if I found a meteorite and what do I do to authenticate it?
He will also take the audience on a brief history of man and meteorite, separating fact from myth, leading to the current model of meteoritics.
The Universe Tonight is a free presentation on the first Saturday of each month. A member of the Mauna Kea astronomy community will share their mana’o and research with the public.
For more information, call 961-2180 or visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis.