Robert Hutchison

Robert Hutchison (1938 – 26 January 2007) was a British scientist who was the curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum. He received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2000, and published several popular books on meteorites.

Biography Early life and education Hutchison attended the University of Glasgow studying geology before receiving appointments at the University of Leeds and the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency. He joined the Natural History Museum in 1969.

Scientific career Hutchison's most important research regarded the discovery of the young age of the Nakhla meteorite. He was then directly involved in studies looking at hydrated minerals within these meteorites, which provided conclusions about water flow on Mars and other celestial bodies,

A major research interest of Hutchison was chondrites, in particular chondrules. Hutchison used research in the area to advocate for a more planetary rather than nebular origin for primitive asteroids. These and other results, with an older-than-expected igneous clast being discovered by Hutchison, lead to revisions to the estimated timeline of solar system formation.

Hutchison died in 2007 from complications following a collapsed lung.

Hutchison was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, The Meteoritical Society, and the Mineralogical Society. The asteroid 5308 Hutchison was named in his honour.