The virtual museum for meteorites : an online resource for students , educators and researchers

Abstract

The role of meteorites in education and outreach is fundamental, as these are very valuable tools to promote the public's interest in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Meteorite exhibitions reveal the fascination of students, educators and even researchers for these extraterrestrial rocks and how these can explain many key questions related to the origin and evolution of our Solar System. In spite of the efforts of private collectors, museums and other institutions to organize meteorite exhibitions, the reach of these is usually limited. However, this issue can be solved thanks to the Internet. In fact we can take advantage of HTML and related technologies to overcome local boundaries and offer the possibility of offering these exhibitions for a global audience. With this aim a Virtual Museum for Meteorites has been created. A description of this on-line tool is given here.