image: CM-type carbonaceous chondrite meteorites like the Sutter's Mill meteorite are among the most unaltered materials that we currently possess from the early solar system. It is from this group of meteorites that researchers have recovered some of the most exciting materials known to space science, such as presolar grains, tiny mineral grains that are older than our sun, and organic carbon molecules, materials that may be the precursors to life on Earth. These meteorites are time capsules from the time of the formation of our Sun and planets. This sample, which shows the surprisingly complex interior of this new meteorite, measures about 1.6 centimeters across. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Dec. 21, 2012, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Peter Jenniskens at SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., and colleagues was titled, "Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutter's Mill Meteorite, a Carbonaceous Chondrite Regolith Breccia." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Robert Beauford, University of Arkansas