Spectroscopic Characterization of Terrestrial Rocksand Meteorites

This research explores the concept of a spectroscopic study deriving a comparative analysis between seven non meteorites and two meteorites such as analysing a Martian, Moon and asteroid meteorites, volcanic rocks and other samples. The goal of this research is to understand differences/similarities between different Space/Earth rock samples and determine whether reflectance spectroscopy method is sustainable to identify terrestrial and extraterrestrial origin rocks. Meteorite samples were provided by Meteorite Museum - Meteoriti.LV. Some of the terrestrial origin samples were provided by authors of the paper, additional data about terrestrial rocks from the ROMA database was used to account for larger quantities of meteorite samples. The main method of data gathering was reflectance spectroscopy in infrared-ultraviolet spectra in the range of 178-880nm. To perform reflectance spectroscopy spectra measurements Ocean Optics USB4000 spectrometer, in the interval of 400-880nm to reduce noise, were used. Measurements were performed on the surface of the samples, and additionally on the points of interest, using sunlight as reflectance light, however, an additional light source was introduced to minimise noise in the IR region. Data was analysed using Python script with matplotlib and pandas libraries. Analysed data was summarized in four graphs with the x axis representing wavelengths in nanometers and y axis reflectance in percentages. Preliminary results reveal observable spectral distinctions between the Earth samples and their Martian, Lunar and meteorite counterparts. Similarities such as curvature and structure of graphs are seen in the same classification samples of meteorites. Furthermore, some of the samples had peaks in the IR region, meaning, presence of organic matter in their composition. This comparative methodology strongly affirms the effectiveness of field-based spectroscopy as a powerful tool for rapidly identifying diagnostic mineral signatures. The resulting findings contribute significantly to broader planetary science objectives by supporting the remote detection and reliable classification of extraterrestrial rocks.