October 2018 Program Information
Octoberr 2018 Program
We had a unique visitor tonight – Kathy Hrechka, who is a volunteer in the mineral section of the Natural History Museum which is part of the Smithsonian in D.C.She lives near there and loves her position as she has access to thousands of priceless, beautiful mineral specimens from all over the world.
Kathy is the award winning editor of the newsletter for the DC Microminerals club www.dcmicrominerals.org. She showed us many photographs of some of these items, and we were in awe! There is also a research center at the museum and specimens can be sent there for analysis.
Kathy had information and photos of several famous meteorite landings on earth – from Antarctica to Chiuahua, Mexico. In 1992 a 26 pounder fell on a lady’s car in Peekskill, NY! Some of the research on meteorites is proving the link between earth and the moon and Mars, as well as evidence for the extinction of the dinosaurs based on the mineral iridium, which is rare on earth, but is common in meteorites.
The Hope Diamond of course, is one of the most popular attractions at the museum and has an intriquing past. The blue is due to the presence of boron. The rough 112 3/16 carat diamond was found in India. Louis XIV had it cut to 67 1/8 carats. After going through several owners, it was donated to the Smithsonian by Harry Winston, Inc in 1958. Scientists believe when it was cut in two parts during the French Revolution that one of them is still missing – so check out blue minerals carefully!
Kathy showed us photos of the “Blue Room”, including new specimens not yet put on exhibit. She also showed photos of some of the hundreds of drawers that are in cases in the Blue Room and elsewhere (she’s unsure of origin of that name, except the carpet is blue). She also showed us some of the public display cases that are popular – the “rainbow” of minerals, the many varieties of calcite, quartz and fluorite, the “gold” display and “objects of wonder”.
Kathy also loves her “job” because she gets to interact with some of the renowned scientists that work in the research lab. She says to come on up to DC and see if she is working the floor during your visit – she’ll point out some of the fantastic displays you wouldn’t want to miss!