[meteorite-list] Name of Texas Fall: Ash Creek

From: MeteorHntr at aol.com <MeteorHntr_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:04:12 EDT
Message-ID: <c16.5ebb8c74.3718bf0c_at_aol.com>

Chris,

If I write a scientific paper, I will call it Ash Creek. For commercial
purposes, if it isn't illegal, I will keep calling it West.

After all, that is the purpose of having synonyms is so that you can call
things by other names, right?

There will be no confusion to me. I don't think anyone else in the
community will be confused. Anyone that says "Ash Creek" we will know what they
are saying. Anyone that uses the "West" name, we will know what they are
saying as well. Just like if they say it is from the "United States" or they
say it is from "America."

I agree with Mark that some meteorites that have already been sold with
the name "West" might get "lost" in the TKW tallies. Some collections
(public and private) will have "West" on their labels instead of "Ash Creek."
But 75 years from now, it will be just as easy to sort out as "Toluca" on a
Glen Huss label is from "Xiquipilco" on a Nininger label... they are the
same rock.

The only confusion will probably be in the collector market, and I don't
think the NomCom cares all that much about the collector market, or that the
name "West" has been used in all the media references up until now. Just
Google Search "West Meteorite" then search "Ash Creek Meteorite." If they
did care, the official name would have been assigned within a few days and
this minor confusion would have easily been avoided. Their priority is for
the scientific side of things, not the pop culture side of things.

Steve Arnold
Arkansas









In a message dated 4/16/2009 11:33:08 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
clp at alumni.caltech.edu writes:
Perhaps those who seek to commercially trade new falls within the first
few
weeks of recovery need to be a bit more careful with _their_ nomenclature.
There is a reason why a formal naming process exists (and face it, "West"
is
a horrible name that should never have been used). IMO, if you're going to
sell early, you shouldn't give it a name at all, just a description ("the
recent, as-yet-unnamed fall near West, Texas").

I can say with some confidence, as somebody who only deals with meteorites
in scientific collections, that this name "change" isn't going to cause
any
confusion at all.

Chris

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Received on Thu 16 Apr 2009 01:04:12 PM PDT