The depths of space are much closer to home following the University of Alberta’s acquisition of a meteorite that is the only one of its kind known to exist on Earth! What makes it so rare? The meteorite is ‘pristine’ – that is, still frozen and uncontaminated – and so provides an invaluable preserved record of material from when the solar system formed 4.57 billion years ago.

The Tagish Lake Meteorite is carbonaceous chondrite and, as such, represents primitive material from which the solar system formed. The meteorite is rich in pre-solar grains – grains from other stars that were present near our solar system when it formed. The meteorite contains primitive molecules that are the building blocks of the components necessary for life. The pristine state of the meteorite makes it especially important for scientific research purposes; it presents an unprecedented opportunity to look for extraterrestrial ices.

“What’s fascinating about the Tagish Lake Meteorite is that it enables us to probe the farthest reaches of our solar system by studying material that has come to us,’ noted Dr. Herd, a professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. The study of the meteorite has the potential for revolutionizing our understanding of the formation of the solar system. The meteorite fell on the frozen surface of Tagish Lake, northern BC, in Canada on January 18, 2000.

Beaucoup information and photos are available here.

Jim Brook, the local resident who first found the landing site was smart enough to keep from contaminating the samples he retrieved. He kept them frozen and eventually sold them for $750,000.