UTK Professor Obtains Samples Of Russian Meteorite

A University of Tennessee professor has obtained pieces of the meteor that exploded spectacularly over Russia in February.

Larry Taylor, director of the Planetary Geosciences Institute at UTK, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that he obtained three samples with the help of colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Taylor and his team are studying one of the samples. He said the meteorite dates back to the very beginnings of our solar system, some 4.56 billion years ago. Taylor gave the other two samples to former members of his research team who are now at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego.

Taylor said the California researchers will be able to perform chemical analyses that he doesn't have the equipment to perform at UT.



Source: Newschannel5