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Post Info TOPIC: Dhofar 025
Blobrana


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A rare piece of moon rock, Dhofar XXX, which was found in Oman in 2001, is being unveiled this weekend, at the Ulster museum's Rocky Roadshow, which explores all sorts of rocks and fossils.

"All of the moon rock on earth would fit into the boot of a small car - making our small piece of rock far more valuable and rare than gold or diamonds. Although it weighs only 6.39 grams, this is one of the largest pieces of moon rock on display outside of the USA. What is even more amazing is that it probably came from the far side of the moon. This was an area never visited by the Apollo astronauts and never seen from earth." - spokeswoman for the museum.

The Rocky Roadshow is on from 1330 - 1630 GMT on Saturday, 04 March 2006, and from 1430 - 1630 GMT on Sunday. Entrance is free.

http://www.ulstermuseum.org.uk

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Blobrana


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A team of scientists from St. Petersburg State University and some other research institutions have managed to determine the characteristics of the lunar soil from the dark side of the Moon.
A small piece of lunar soil, weighing 751 grams and designated as Dhofar 025 was found in a desert on the Arabian Peninsula, in the Dhofar region of Oman. five years ago (March 5 2000).



A tiny spec of zircon in the composition of the lunar stone served as the key to the secret of lunar soil.
The meteorite is a regolith breccia containing numerous mineral fragments and clasts of feldspathic rocks embedded in a glass-rich matrix.
After studying the isotopic composition of the mineral and comparing it with know and dated samples of soil from the Earth and the Moon, the scientists concluded that zircon had the same age as the earlier studied samples of lunar soil did.
It is about 4.3-4.4 billion years old. However, about 2 billion years ago the composition of the mineral changed. The change could have been caused by a meteorite strike, which threw the stone into space.



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