Astronomy in the News: Mar 20, 2000

A rare meteorite, called a carbonaceous chondrite, is recovered in pristine condition a few days after its fall to earth. We may learn much about the composition of the nebula from which the Sun and Earth formed from it.
NEAR spacecraft is in orbit around Eros
Mars Global Surveyor detects dust devils on the planet's surface , which create dark streaks of dust in their wake
The Iridium constellation of communications satellites may be de-orbited because its operators are going bankrupt. This would be good news for some astronomers, but bad news for people who like to look for Iridium flares.