UCLA’s Meteorite Gallery Rocks!

What did the rock say to the meteorite? You’re out of this world! 

National Rock Day is July 13, so we’re featuring one of UCLA’s coolest collections of rocks: the UCLA Meteorite Gallery. The UCLA Meteorite Collection has over 2,500 samples from about 1,500 different meteorites and about 100 of them are available for public viewing at the UCLA Meteorite Gallery.

Keep reading to learn more about the UCLA Meteorite Gallery.

The UCLA Meteorite Gallery (the Gallery for short) is located on the third floor of the Geology Building and it’s open to the public on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is always free, so you can drop by to visit if you have a spare moment on campus.

The Gallery features five large iron meteorites, the largest of which weighs 811 pounds. Guests are welcome to touch the iron meteorites and play with the magnets attached to the rocks. While most meteorites come from asteroids, meteorites from the moon and Mars are also on display. 

There are also some non-meteorites at the Gallery. There’s a display case showing tektites, which are rocks formed when meteorites hit the earth and melt terrestrial soils. The Gallery also has a collection of “meteorwrongs,” which are Earth rocks that were mistaken for meteorites.

For more information about the Gallery, visit its website through the link below.

Don’t take the UCLA Meteorite Gallery for granite — visit the Gallery and see UCLA’s pieces of space for yourself!