After two years of being shut down due to COVID, the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Gallery once again opens its doors. Late last year, the Monnig made another big announcement after acquiring two noteworthy meteorites, one of which is believed to be from Mars. The other meteorite donated is named Erg Chech 002 and is possibly the oldest magmatic rock ever found in our solar system.

Visitors to the Monnig can once again learn how to identify a meteorite, enjoy hands-on encounters with different types of meteorites, create their own terrestrial impact crater, and have an “out-of-this-world” experience. Rhiannon Mayne, curator of the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Collection, says, “I am delighted to be able to open up the doors to the Monnig again.” The Monnig Meteorite collection is one of the largest university-based meteorite collections in the world. Currently, the Monnig contains nearly 3,000 samples from more than 2,300 different meteorites, and the collection is constantly growing. While the Monnig is the public face of the collection, 95 percent of the samples are not on display and are used for education and scientific research.

Mayne says, “The Monnig Meteorite Gallery has served as one of TCU’s largest outreach efforts since its opening in 2003. Before the pandemic hit, we were seeing more than 10,000 people a year both at the gallery and at schools and events throughout the metroplex. To put that into perspective, that is about the same as the number of undergraduates at TCU.”

Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Gallery
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m.
2950 West Bowie Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76109
817-257-6277

Learn more about The Monnig Meteorite Gallery.