Guy ConsolmagnoGuy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, will discuss a method to characterize the composition of space objects Thursday

Space objects subject of seminar

The director of the Vatican Observatory will conduct a one-hour public seminar entitled “Classifying meteorites and asteroids by their physical properties,” at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, November 19, in the Rose Room, Vanier Hall.

Some properties of meteorites—bulk density, porosity, thermal conductivity—tell us about the fabric of the meteorite and how it was formed, says research astronomer Guy Consolmagno. Other properties—heat capacity, grain density and magnetic susceptibility—depend on the quantity and oxidation state of the iron within.

Consolmagno will discuss measurement of these properties as a fast tool for classifying meteorites, asteroids, and airless planets in his lecture, hosted by the UWindsor physics department in partnership with Assumption University and Canterbury College.

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