Brush with fame

Last week, a celebrity came to my work place. No, I’m not talking about Chris Martin from Coldplay, Im talking about Ivuna. Not quite so musical or entertaining, but vastly more valuable and significant, Ivuna is a meteorite recently purchased by the Natural History Museum. Like any self-respecting celeb, Ivuna was accompanied by a minder at all times, Dr Caroline Smith, a meteorite curator at the Museum. Dr Smith carried Ivuna around in a high-tech briefcase wrapped in a piece of tinfoil like a baked potato, and handled the valuable solidified-mud-pie-from-space with green gloves at all times. Although it doesn’t look like much, it’s very valuable, because it could hold secrets about the early days of our universe. It will hopefully go on view in a new meteorite gallery at the NHM, where everyone will be able to go and have a good look. Welcome to London, Ivuna.

(Photo borrowed from the Natural History Museum)