BIMS behind the scenes visit to the NHM London and the Royal Society photos
The photos below are all copyright of Msg-Meteorites and are re-produced here with the kind permission of both the Natural History Museum and the Royal society.
Click on any photo below to see all images in a slideshow.
BIMS members (from left to right) Barry Lee, Kieron Heard, Mark Ford, David Entwistle, Luther Jackson, Graham Ensor and Martin Goff. We are stood by the Lake House meteorite at the Royal Society exhibition ‘Objects in space’Original print of one of the large Cranbourne meteorites in situThe Danebury meteoriteCloser view of the Danebury meteoriteLunar soil thin section from the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 photographed in cross polarized lightAn original Damien Hirst spot painting with the Beagle Mars lander in the middle spot.The inscription from Damien Hirst to Colin PillingerOriginal artwork by Cornelia Parker titled ‘Meteorite misses Waco, Texas’Edward King’s book titled ‘Remarks concerning stones said to have fallen from the clouds: both in these days and in antient times’Closer view of Edward King’s bookPhotomicrograph of thin section of the Lance meteorite photographed in plane polarized light. Lance fell in Loir-et-Cher, France on the 23rd July, 1872. It is classified as a Carbonaceous Chondrite CO3.4Display label accompanying the Lake House meteoriteMe stood next to the Lake House meteoriteThe Lake House meteoriteAnother view of the Lake House meteoriteIn between the Royal Society and the visit to the NHM we had a lunch stop for some more meteorite talk. Meteorites and beer, a perfect combo!Stood in the main entrance hall of the NHM in front of the huge Diplodocus skeletonThe mineral room with the vault meteorite gallery visible at the far endLuther stood next to a 1400 pound Campo del Cielo iron meteoriteThe vault where the metorites are displayedOne of the wooden display cabinets just outside the entrance to the vaultA gorgeous specimen of the Johnstown diogeniteA nice chunk of NahklaThe absolutely stunning 1099g Tissint individual recently acquired by the NHM from Dave Gheesling and Darryl PittSpecimens from left to right; Vigarano, Canyon Diablo, Cold Bokkeveld and Dar el Gani 400, all dwarfed by a huge specimen of ImilacA large specimen of MurchisonA nice big sculpted Henbury individualA large individual of ParnaleeAn original print showing the Wold Cottage meteorite next to a cast of the WC main mass with a bottle of Falling Stone beer in the backgroundA piece of Apollo lunar rock along with a space flown Union Jack flag presented to the UK from the USA in 1973Just an amazing slab of Estherville, a stunning piece!Assistant meteorite curator Deborah Cassey with some pieces of the Ashdon meteoriteThe large piece of Ivuna fairly recently acquired by the NHMThe very rarely seen Pontlyfni UK meteorite which is classified as a WinonaiteAnother UK rarity, the Beddgelert main mass which fell in 1949The cut face of BeddgelertTwo of the many drawers housing specimens in the meteorite storage roomAn endcut of AshdonEndcut of Ashdon showing very thick fusion crustThe main mass of Ashdon showing the cut face where the endcut pictured before was cut fromWe never realised that Ashdon was quite so oriented. It has amazing flowlines radiating from the centre over the lipGraham taking a closer look at AshdonAshdon is a beautiful meteorite made even more so as it is one of the relatively few recorded UK fallsA drawer containing numerous pieces of BarwellA chunk of Barwell showing a large dark basaltic clastThe Aldsworth meteorite which is very, very rare in private or institutional collectionsCloser view of the Aldsworth meteorite. It shows some well defined chondrules which as its classified as an L5 i found a bit strange.And another UK meteorite……. This one is Glatton which feel in 1991in Arthur Pettifor’s garden whilst he was gardening. A single stone was found weighing 767 gramsCloser view of the Glatton meteorite. As with most of the UK meteorites, this is not common in collectionsThe Rowton meteorite, a rare witnessed iron fall and the UK’s only iron meteoriteThe etched cut face of RowtonAmazingly fresh considering it fell in 1876An amazing piece of Marjalahti pallasite where all the olivines have weathered away leaving an intricate metal skeletonMine is bigger than yours! Graham comparing his half slice of NWA 482 against one from the NHM, Graham won!We finished off our visit with a piece of the infamous ALH 84001Victorian wooden cabinets housing amazing specimens in the vaults of the NHMDavid Entwistle, Kieron Heard, Graham Ensor, Barry Lee, Mark Ford, Luther Jackson and myself in meteorite heaven!
