News
BA carries unusual passenger to London museum
20 June 2008
British Airways this week carried one of its most unusual and possibly most valuable passengers – a rare meteorite that could help scientists unravel the secrets of the solar system.
The meteorite, called Ivuna, was transferred to London's Natural History Museum from a private collection in the United States.
It landed in Tanzania in 1938 but has only recently been made available for scientific research. The museum's acquisition of the rock means that the UK now holds the largest sample of the meteorite of any public collection in the world.
Researchers are particularly interested in Ivuna as its chemical composition matches that of the sun. Only nine of the 35,000 meteorites known to science have this particular make-up.
Dr Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at the Natural History Museum, explained: 'Ivuna is a real-life time capsule that means we can look at the very first steps of how our solar system formed. We hold one of the most comprehensive meteorite collections in the world, yet Ivuna has been a missing piece in the jigsaw.
'If we can better understand the complex processes that occurred in our solar system over 4.5bn years ago, we can apply this to other stellar systems where planets are forming today.'
The piece of rock will become a tourist attraction when it is exhibited in the soon-to-be opened meteorites gallery at the Natural History Museum.
Opodo cheap flights, hotels and car hire - let the journey begin!
The meteorite, called Ivuna, was transferred to London's Natural History Museum from a private collection in the United States.
It landed in Tanzania in 1938 but has only recently been made available for scientific research. The museum's acquisition of the rock means that the UK now holds the largest sample of the meteorite of any public collection in the world.
Researchers are particularly interested in Ivuna as its chemical composition matches that of the sun. Only nine of the 35,000 meteorites known to science have this particular make-up.
Dr Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at the Natural History Museum, explained: 'Ivuna is a real-life time capsule that means we can look at the very first steps of how our solar system formed. We hold one of the most comprehensive meteorite collections in the world, yet Ivuna has been a missing piece in the jigsaw.
'If we can better understand the complex processes that occurred in our solar system over 4.5bn years ago, we can apply this to other stellar systems where planets are forming today.'
The piece of rock will become a tourist attraction when it is exhibited in the soon-to-be opened meteorites gallery at the Natural History Museum.
Opodo cheap flights, hotels and car hire - let the journey begin!
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