Thursday, June 12, 2008 - Page updated at 02:06 PM

Mineral from space named for UW professor

A mineral from space has been named for University of Washington astronomer Donald Brownlee.

SEATTLE —

A mineral from space has been named for University of Washington astronomer Donald Brownlee.

It's a combination of manganese and silicon that was found in a particle of dust collected in 2003 in the atmosphere. It's called a "brownleeite."

The particle was identified by researchers from NASA and elsewhere and named for the UW expert on planetary dust and comets.

The university says the International Mineralogical Association has added brownleeite to its list of more than 4,300 recognized minerals.

Brownlee says he's always been intrigued by minerals and now "it's great to be one."

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