* Astronomy

Sicilia, geologia: a Palermo i frammenti del meteorite caduto in Messico

"A Palermo saranno esposti , frammenti del meteorite caduto in Messico nel 1969. Si tratta di reperti che hanno più di 4 MLD e mezzo di anni e dunque più antichi della Terra". L'annuncio e'stato dato questa mattina da Sergio Calabrese ricercatore all' Università di Palermo e Presidente dell' Associazione Geode . 
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 Caltech Scientists Find New Primitive Mineral in Meteorite

In 1969, an exploding fireball tore through the sky over Mexico, scattering thousands of pieces of meteorite across the state of Chihuahua. More than 40 years later, the Allende meteorite is still serving the scientific community as a rich source of information about the early stages of our solar system's evolution. Recently, scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) discovered a new mineral embedded in the space rock - one they believe to be among the oldest minerals formed in the solar system.
Dubbed panguite, the new titanium oxide is named after Pan Gu, the giant from ancient Chinese mythology who established the world by separating yin from yang to create the earth and the sky. The mineral and the mineral name have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association's Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. A paper outlining the discovery and the properties of this new mineral will be published in the July issue of the journal American Mineralogist, and is available online now.
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Partially molten small bodies may be abundant in space, and may have given the Earth its oceans.

A new analysis of one of the most well-known meteorites on Earth provides strong evidence that the prevailing view of many asteroids is wrong. Rather than randomly mixed blobs of rock and dust stuck together, it appears that the asteroid that was the source of the Allende meteorite was large enough to have had a molten core, even though its surface remained cold and solid. The new view also suggests that astronomers' view of how planets like the Earth formed may need revision.
The Allende meteorite fell in Mexico in 1969, shattering into thousands of fragments as it slammed into the Earth's atmosphere and strewing them across dozens of miles of desert. More than two tons of scattered pieces have been found, and it has become perhaps the best-studied meteorite ever.
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