Telescope Reviews: Re: The dark side of the market?

I've heard this argument before, and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Here's why...

The vast majority of lunar and martian meteorites now being studied by scientists came from North Africa. If the scientists had to rely solely on meteorites collected from Antarctica, they would have much less material to study. The fact is, the majority of meteorites that come out of NWA are available for study by scientists. Whenever a private individual sends off a meteorite for classification, the classifiying lab keeps a portion of it for posterity and study. Every catalogued meteorite, regardless of origin, is available for study.

In fact, the same people who complain about private collectors are very short-sighted - because if not for private meteorite hunters, many of the world's most valuable meteorites (to science) would have never been found or studied. Universities and governments are not exactly combing the Earth looking for them - in this day of tight budgets, it just doesn't pay off to send a team to the Sahara desert on the school payroll.

The Meteoritical Society is *the* governing body of meteorites and their study. The MS also deals with solar wind, pre-solar particles, asteroids, comets, and related planetary topics. The MS not only welcomes private individuals, but a good number of the MS' members are collectors and dealers. Unlike many other disciplines of science, meteoritics embraces the amateur as a necessity.

When a meteorite is removed from it's original location, and that location is not recorded, then data is lost. But this data is secondary to the composition of the meteorite itself. Meteoritics is not anthropology or archaeology, so there is not great loss of potential because a meteorite was smuggled from it's original location. The location of the meteorite contributes little to it's scientific worth - unlike bones, pottery, or other ancient artifacts whose disposition and location may shed light on important related issues.

If museums and institutions want to stop purchasing/collecting meteorites that come out of North Africa - then they are cutting off their own nose to spite their own face, so to speak. *THAT* and not private collectors, will cause a major loss to science.

Regards and clear skies,

MikeG

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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.

Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Buy/Sell/Trade Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, & 35 different falls and types!

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