* Astronomy

 Patrick Mah's research rocks.
Actually, it's meteorites -- which several researchers believe may be found in great numbers in eastern Manitoba due to geological conditions occurring in and around the long-gone glacial Lake Agassiz.
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A meteorite prospecting rush could hit southeastern Manitoba next summer after a third find by the same man within a relatively small area proved the Whiteshell region is a space rock hot spot.

"There may be hundreds or thousands to find there" - Alan Hildebrand, University of Calgary planet scientist .

Derek Erstelle had already found two meteorites near Lac du Bonnet in about 1998 and 2002, prompting speculation that the area might have an unusually high concentration of the multibillion-year-old rocks that fall from space.
Only eight meteorites have been identified in the province in the last century.
Erstelle said he found his third meteorite when walking through the bush this summer in the Whiteshell area to test the theory that a load of meteorites was dumped there when glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age.
An experienced woodsman who spends up to a month at a time in the wilderness looking for gemstones and antlers to carve, Erstelle spotted unusual-looking gravel through his binoculars on the Whiteshell River in October.
When he checked it out, he discovered several pieces of a large rusting meteorite.
The five-kilogram find could be worth $5,000 to $50,000.
So far, Erstelle has donated a chunk of the exceptionally heavy rock to scientists. He wants to make rings for himself and a friend from the crystalline interior, but has not decided what to do with the rest.

His first find was sold to the Royal Ontario Museum.


West Hawk East Crater

Hildebrand said Erstelle would have been more likely to win the lottery than stumble on three meteorites by accident -- unless there's an unusual concentration in the Whiteshell.
No other Canadian has ever found more than one meteorite.
Meteorites that fall on glaciers are carried along to the ice sheet's edge as if on a conveyor belt.
In Antarctica, where that process is still happening, more than 10,000 have been found at the edge of ice sheets. Scientists have searched for similar deposits in North America, with no luck until now.
Hildebrand said southeastern Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota are where two lobes of the Laurentide ice sheet met about 11,500 years ago.
If Erstelle's meteorites were carried by the glacier, they must have fallen from space more than 11,000 years ago. Tests are underway to prove that.
The meteor-rich area is potentially more than 100 kilometres from north to south and 50 kilometres wide.
Meteorites are fragments of asteroids that once orbited between Mars and Jupiter before crossing paths with the Earth.
Hildebrand said it's important to study them in case scientists discover that a dangerously large asteroid is on a collision course with Earth and scientists need to try to alter the path of the incoming projectile.
They also provide information about the space dust that can damage space ships.
In the future, humans may "mine" meteorites in space for their mineral content.
Erstelle credits his success to the wilderness skills he learned from his grandfather in a small Métis community at the south end of Lake Manitoba.

"St. Laurent is rich culturally and spiritually" - Alan Hildebrand.

The man who always collected pebbles as a child combs the ground with metal detectors and magnets and uses GPS equipment to map his finds. His three meteorites have high iron content, making them easier to detect.
Erstelle's first meteorite was found in Pinawa Dam Provincial Heritage Park. The next fragments were about 40 kilometres away near Bernic Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Forest.
Meteorites typically have a burnt crust on the outside, are unusually heavy and may have depressions that look like fingerprints. They may be rusted and attract magnets.

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