Right now, an amazing exhibit is on display at the French Museum of Natural History, in Paris France! Here you will see a dazzling array of over 300 actual meteorites that have blasted through our atmosphere. Also included is impact footage of meteorites hitting Earth, cultural artifacts depicting mankind's fears regarding space rocks, and some great interactive activities for kids. If you love astronomy and geology, this exhibit is for you! It runs until about mid-June at the Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle, and yes, you can touch many of the meteorites.

Exhibit Contents

Here's a sampling of the amazing things on display.

The Visualizations

Those familiar with Omnidomes or large 3D immersion projection theaters will greatly appreciate watching planet and meteorite formation in what I call "The Awesome Dome". A word of caution: Its a dark room, and there happens to be soft sunken areas down on the floor for laying. I did not see them and fell in twice. Above are some shots I took with my cell phone after I regained my composure.

The Meteorites - This Exhibit Rocks!

Itty-bitty meteorites. I imagine these are in a case so folks don't wander off with one.

Great big meteorite. I can't even begin to imagine the weight of some of the larger ones in the exhibit, many of which are composted of dense and very heavy metals.

Really interesting meteorite with visible content variation.

Streaks of shiny heavy metals run through this cross-section of a meteorite.

This one hit Russia in 1749 AD.

By far, the strangest meteorite of all. This one was covered in a glass dome, behind a glass case, and I'm thinking that it was for a damn good reason. See the strange black vertical shading/lines behind this meteorite? They are NOT visible to the naked eye. I tried three cameras, two flash settings and three exposure variations and there was absolutely no way to get a picture without these strange lines. This meteorite is giving off some bizarre energy!

Cultural Artifacts

Throughout history, mankind has, for good reason, been pretty freaked out about meteorites. In this painting, some Conquistador-looking dudes are depicted as looking at a meteor falling to Earth. I will assume it was a cold, rather than hot meteor as, it isn't particularly fiery.

An ancient book recording meteorite events from long, long ago. So long, in fact, that meteorite events were largely attributed to religious superstitions and lore. It is fascinating to see texts like this in the exhibit.

In Summary

I'm apprehensive to share more of the fantastic items in the "Meteorites" exhibit with you because I want you to go see it for yourself. So much more is on display than what I have shared here (including a piece of our moon!), and I hope you will take the opportunity to discover this fascinating collection. If you can't get to Paris, at least check with the museum to see where the exhibit is going next. I believe it just came to Paris from London, so maybe the next stop is near you.

Never stop learning.

Link to the Promo Vid