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By Andrew Bridges
Pasadena Bureau Chief
posted: 07:00 pm ET
22 May 2000

A brownish-gray rock found in desert Oman last January is the fifteenth martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth

A brownish-gray rock found in the desert in Oman last January is the 15th confirmed martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth.

A team of scientists at the Vernadsky Institute in Moscow has identified the rare rock as martian in origin. They gave the meteorite the provisional name of "Dhofar 019," reflecting the region of the Middle Eastern country where it was found. The discoverer of the weathered 2.3-pound (1.056-kilogram) rock remains anonymous.

The scientists have submitted their findings to the Meteoritical Societys nomenclature committee, which will have the final say in naming the space rock.

"They have looked at and I trust them to have identified it okay," Jeffrey Grossman, editor of the societys Meteoritical Bulletin, said of the scientists work.

The find brings to 15 the number of known meteorites from Mars, which are among the rarest of the roughly 20,000 meteorites found on Earth.

However, the Oman rock follows closely on the heels of two other recent martian meteorite discoveries.

"In the last six months three new Mars meteorites have surfaced, which is very rare," said Ron Baalke, a software engineer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a meteorite collector.

In January, scientists confirmed that that two stones rock hound Bob Verish had picked up 20 years previously in the Mojave Desert were, in fact, chunks of the Red Planet.

And just last month, two meteorites found in the Libyan desert in 1996 or 1997 were positively identified as being martian. However, those rocks were paired with two other previously discovered Mars meteorites, Dar al Gani 476 and 489.

The discovery of the newest meteorite in Oman demonstrates that countrys growing importance in the global hunt for the pricey stones.

"Quite a few people are going into Oman. This is the latest and greatest hotbed," Grossman said.

Meteorite hunters scour literally every continent for the rare rocks, which can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. As much as 1.76 pounds (0.8 kilograms) of Dhofar 019 reportedly will be sold to collectors.

The most famous martian meteorite is known as ALH 84001, which a team of NASA scientists claimed in 1996 contains traces of ancient life.

 

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