Tagish Lake -- A Meteorite from the Far Reaches of the Asteroid Belt

Written by David W. Mittlefehldt NASA, Johnson Space Center Pieces of a 56-metric-ton meteorite rained down over a wide area of Canada on January 18, 2000. Many pieces landed on the frozen Tagish Lake, allowing scientists to recover numerous samples, and giving the meteorite its name. Studies show that the meteorite is intermediate in composition between the two most primitive groups of chondrite meteorites, CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites. Observations of its trajectory allowed scientists to calculate its path through the solar system. The calculations show that it hails from the outer asteroid belt, in a place where dark, carbonand water-rich asteroids reside. Tagish Lake is a new type of primitive meteorite that will surely shed light on how the solar system formed.