After being closed for two years, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has reopened its newly renovated Meteorite Museum located in Northrop Hall.
This is the first update since the museum was initially opened in 1974. Outdated lighting was removed and replaced with new technology and a futuristic design.
"(It’s) new and changed in the respect that we have completely renovated the interior, as well as a new layout and a new way of presenting the collection,” said Meteorite Museum Director Carl Agee, who is also the director of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department. “There are also new types of meteorites that we haven’t had on exhibit before.”
Some of those new meteorite specimens include Martian and lunar meteorites, according to Agee. There is also a new display of pallasites, or meteorites made of iron that have olivine crystals embedded, he said.
The museum displays dozens of meteorites representing the full Institute of Meteoritics’ collection, which includes about 1,000 unique meteorite types, Agee said.
There is a range of meteorites found all over the world, from the one-ton meteorite named Norton County that fell in Kansas in 1948 – now a centerpiece of the museum – to meteorites from recent finds that UNM has been able to bring back from the Sahara desert, according to a UNM press release.
Not only were the displays updated, but the actual collection was modernized in the process.
“We were also about to get some of the meteorites refurbished, we’ve put new finishes on them,” Agee said. “They’ve been edged — a new way to show some beautiful structures —and that needs to happen from time to time because the ones that are made with iron, nickel or (other) metals tend to rust.”
In the renovation, the department took advantage of the new lighting fixtures by installing LED lamps to brighten up the display, as well as installing them behind meteorites with gems to highlight the colors and illuminate samples.
Agee said the new technology doesn’t use up a lot of energy and doesn’t create a lot of heat, making the environment well-lit without using a lot of electricity.
The museum closed in late 2013 to begin the planning and design process. Asbestos abatement took place in June 2014, but due to funding delays construction did not start in earnest until February 2015. The renovation took approximately eight months to complete, according to Lee Ann Lloyd, administrative assistant of the Institute of Meteoritics.
"(The goal of the renovation was) to be able to display a wider variety of the UNM collection, especially the Martian and lunar meteorites, which have not been previously displayed,” Lloyd said.
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Agee and the IOM had been trying to renovate the museum for years, but it wasn’t until 2013 that they received the funding to do so. The majority of the funding came via grants by the State of New Mexico through the efforts of New Mexico State Senator William Payne, as well as the UNM Provost’s Office.
Denicia Aragon is a reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
