Meteorites - Solar System Treasures
Schedule: Wednesdays, August 6, 13, 20, Saturday, August 23, 2008, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Location: UW Campus, Seattle, and field trip
Location: UW Campus, Seattle (see maps)
Reg. # 96962

Course Description

This short course will introduce you to the growing treasure hunt for meteorites, which include the oldest known samples in the solar system and the only samples we have from the planet Mars. In the past 30 years, the recovery of extraterrestrial specimens that fall to Earth has increased dramatically, with expeditions to Antarctica and the rocky deserts of Africa and Oman. Although meteorites have been found (and even witnessed to fall) in the United States, the state of Washington is woefully under-represented, with only five known meteorite specimens. In this course you will find out how meteorite samples are critical to our understanding of the solar system, examine actual lunar and martian specimens, learn how scientists tell a meteorite from a "meteorwrong", and see two of the Washington meteorites and where they were found. The final session will be an all-day field tour to Waterville in central Washington.

Instructor

Dr. Tony Irving
Lecturer
Tony Irving currently a part-time lecturer, has previously held faculty positions in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences since 1979, and prior to that he conducted research at MIT and the Lunar and Planetary Institute on samples collected by the Apollo missions. He has taught numerous undergraduate and extension classes on Pacific Northwest geology and planetary geology, and directed several meteorite exhibits at the Burke Museum. He is a leading expert on meteorites (especially those found in the deserts of Northwest Africa) and their implications for the history of the solar system.