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Meteorite-Times Magazine Contents by Editor Like

Featured Monthly Articles Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team Micro Visions by John Kashuba Galactic Lore by Mike Gilmer Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black Meteorite of the Month by Michael Johnson Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Witnessed Fall: Krymka, Ukraine by Martin Horejsi Like

An January 1946 Witnessed Fall: Krymka, Ukraine

The Chondrite That Keeps on Giving

St ret ch your imaginat ion and pret end t he surf ace of Krymka is t he view out side your spaceship as you jump t o hyperdrive while cruising t he early solar syst em. Let â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s be honest , usually when we t alk about a met eorit e being gorgeous, beaut if ul, amazing, st unning, or magnif icent , t he average person might not be able t o t ell it f rom one we describe as ugly, hideous, or gruesome. But in t he case of Krymka, even t he casual observer is impressed wit h t he look t o t he point of using t heir own words like gorgeous, beaut if ul, amazing, st unning, and magnif icent . Krymka f ell t o eart h as an LL3.1 chondrit e on January 21, 1946, but as our met eorit e classif icat ion scheme mat ured t hanks t o Grossman and Brearley (2005), t oday we ref er t o Krymka as an LL3.2.

Like any good Mensa brain t easer if I asked you t o make a quick guess as t o how many chondrules are in t his pict ure, likely you would likely f eel somewhere bet ween disappoint ed and embarrassed wit h t he answer. T he moment you st art count ing, t he more t he chondrules you see. If you use a magnif ying glass it only get s worse (or bet t er as I look at it ). A number of years ago, a slice of Krymka blipped my shopping radar and I jumped on t he chance t o add a slice t o my collect ion. Arriving in my post box was a absolut ely gorgeous crust ed complet e slice wit h more chondrule densit y, def init ion, and diversit y t han I have ever owned in t he f orm of a wit nessed f all. I do have t o qualif y t he st at ement as “owned” and not “seen” because I once spent some t ime wit h Semarkona in t he met eorit e lab at t he Smit hsonian. Semarkona is t he world’s only LL3.00 and looks it ! Oddly, t he f all of Krymka is report ed t o have been a shower of 25kg t hat was recovered soon af t er it arrived, and anot her 25kg was recovered at a lat er dat e. What ’s odd about t hat you might ask? Well, not hing except t he Cat alogue of Met eorit es report s only about 13kg is account ed f or world wide. How could you misplace 39kg of met eorit e t his amazing.

T he met eorit e collect ing vernacular cont ains many words t hat posit ively or negat ively describe specimens. In t he case of my slice of Krymka some of t he posit ive words included complet e slice, crust , LL3.x, wit nessed f all, over half a cent ury old, polished f aces, high surf ace t o weight rat io, collect ion document at ion, and parallel cut surf aces. T his is what I consider t he reverse f ace of my slice. Weber, Semenenko, St ephan & Jessberger wrot e in Met eorit ics & Planet ary Science 41, Nr 4, 571 –580 (2006) an art icle t it led: T EM st udies and t he shock hist ory of a “myst erit e” inclusion f rom t he Krymka LL chondrit e Krymka is charact erized by t he occurrence of a high modal abundance of xenolit hic clast s (Semenenko and Girich 2001; Semenenko et al. 2001). T hese f ine-grained f oreign inclusions are dominat ed by carbonaceous clast s, which are of ext raordinary scient if ic int erest . T his very rare, f ine-grained, dark mat erial has so f ar been discovered only in t wo met eorit es, Krymka (LL3.1) and Supuhee (H6). Laul et al. (1973) det ect ed an enrichment of Ag, T l, and Bi in t hese t wo ordinary chondrit es. T hey concluded t hat t his enrichment has it s origin in an admixt ure of a phase rich in t hese element s in a lat e condensat e int roduced during a brecciat ion event . Since t he pet rographic carrier of t he volat iles could not be specif ied, t hey named t his mat erial “myst erit e.” T he mineralogical, chemical, and isot opic f eat ures, as well as t he nat ure of t he graphit e and ot her minerals, were invest igat ed t o obt ain inf ormat ion on t heir mineral associat ions wit h t he aim of f inding conclusive evidence concerning t he origin of myst erit e, a mat erial t hat had already been associat ed wit h comet s. T he result s of t hese combined invest igat ions allow t he f ollowing conclusions: t he xenolit h f ormat ion is a result of t he accret ion of het erogeneous component s in a region deplet ed in chondrules. Af t er t his process, which was f ollowed by lit hif icat ion and a probable collisional f ragment at ion of a primary carbonaceous body, t his xenolit h and some ot hers (Semenenko et al. 2005) were covered wit h ext remely f ine-grained silicat e dust . Toget her wit h t he main Krymka const it uent s, t he xenolit hs were accret ed in t he Krymka parent body. T he det ailed T EM st udy of t he Krymka carbonaceous xenolit h K1 plainly indicat es t hat a t hermal and shock met amorphism must have t aken place, eit her on a primary body of t he xenolit h or on t he Krymka parent body it self .

Wikipedia provided t he f ollowing explanat ion: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chondrules f ormed as molt en or part ially molt en droplet s in space bef ore being accret ed t o t heir parent ast eroids. Because chondrit es represent t he oldest solid mat erial wit hin our solar syst em and are believed t o be t he building blocks of t he planet ary syst em, it f ollows t hat an underst anding of t he f ormat ion of chondrules is import ant t o underst and t he init ial development of t he planet ary syst em.â&#x20AC;? To me, when applying t he above words t o Krymka, my slice becomes a nursery of inf ant planet s t hat , like baby dinosaurs preserved in t he f ossil record, never reached t heir pot ent ial growing t o adult planet s in our solar syst em. Nit t ler, Alexander, St adermann & Zinner observed in t heir art icle t it led: Presolar Al-, Ca-, And Ti-Rich Oxide Grains In T he Krymka Met eorit e. Alt hough a large number of presolar Al2O3 and MgAl2O4 grains have now been st udied, only a handf ul of presolar hibonit e (CaAl12O19) grains and a single presolar TiO2 grain have been previously report ed. We report t he ident if icat ion and det ailed isot opic charact erist ics of 46 presolar oxides f rom a new residue of t he Krymka unequilibrat ed ordinary chondrit e (LL3.1), including 15 Hibonit es and 2 TiO2 grains.

T he crust on Krymka, while as excit ing and desirable as any ot her crust on a wit nessed f all, but what I f ind t ruly amazing t o see is t he delicat e boundary bet ween t he crust and t he chondrules. Look closely at how t he chondrules brush up against t he prot ect ive crust like a bag f ull of marbles. As we begin a new year f or t he Accret ion Desk, I would like t o personally t hank my readers. T he emailed comment s are f un t o read. I know t here is a small but growing number of collect ors who specialize in hist oric met eorit es, wit nessed f alls, or like me, pref er bot h. T hanks f or reading! Unt il next t imeâ&#x20AC;Ś T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Opportunities Missed by Jim Tobin Like

As I t hink about t he Tucson Gem Show coming soon, I am t rying t o put t oget her my short list of met eorit es. Ones I would be int erest ed in if I see t hem t here. It has become increasingly apparent t o me lat ely t hat I have made some real t act ical errors over t he years. Also I have never learned f rom my mist akes. T his is kind of st range since I spent my childhood being dragged by my parent s t o ant ique and junk st ores wit h t he phrase “st rike while t he iron is hot ” always in my ears. I have missed over t he years of my met eorit e collect ing some great opport unit ies. I don’t know in each case now what I was t hinking back t hen, but it cost me some met eorit es t hat I now look f or and hardly ever see available. Some t imes I know I was t hinking; “t here is a lot of it and I can wait unt il Tucson t o get it ”. And somet imes t hat has been t rue, but on ot her occasions I just missed out . I know t hat t imes it was a mat t er of cost . I just could not bring myself t o pay t hat much f or it f rom a dealer t hat had just a f ew st ones. I t hought cert ainly t here must be someone wit h more who is asking less money. Somet imes t here just was no more available. Since I have a slight ly direct ionless collect ion. T here are a lot of reasons f or me t o like a met eorit e and want t o get it . A person collect ing only f alls would have a dif f erent set of crit eria. Someone collect ing only visually st riking irons has a very dif f erent set of decision making t hought s. I have never had a sharp f ocus like eit her of t hose in my collect ing. But , t he last f ew years I have been int erest ed in acquiring t he new f alls as t hey make it t o t he market place. I have a couple new f alls t o decide about now. Once again t he “do I buy it now or wait ?“ and, “is t his a good price or will more be available lat er wit h great er choice and lower price?” quest ions ring in my mind. I missed one a couple decades ago, and have been looking f or an individual of t hat f all f or years now. It seems like every t ime one comes on t he market I am about t wo hours lat e inquiring about it . I remember t his f all very well. T here were a large number of st ones and I was doing some work f or a dealer who had some of t hem. I cut some met eorit es f or him and did some ot her project s f or him. I got paid in t rade. I recall several t imes when I was choosing met eorit es f rom his invent ory t hat I passed t his part icular f all by. Boy have I been kicking myself lat ely f or t hat . I just knew in my heart t hat t hey would st ill be around lat er af t er I got ot hers f irst . Well, t hey were not available lat er. So t hat f all remains ever on my short list year by year at Tucson. My eye always scanning t he int ernet f or t he name. T hough I st ill do miss some by t hinking t oo much. I have also got t en some lat ely; so maybe I am learning slowly. Perhaps t he words of my parent s are f inally get t ing t hrough t o me. I st ruck really f ast on Moss get t ing t wo nice pieces. And as it t urned out t here is very lit t le. I did OK on Carancas get t ing a nice piece and a lot of f ragment s. I st ruck early and cont inuously on Juanchung and now have some wonderf ul pieces of t hat f all. I got t hem at a range of prices. All real bargains by t oday‘s market . I guess in a couple weeks I will see what happens wit h t he opport unit ies t his Tucson present s me. Will I over t hink or bit e t he bullet and spend t he money? Will I risk it and hunt diligent ly f or a bargain, or just seize t he chance when I f ind one of t he met eorit es on my list ? T he worst of all t hings t hat happens is t o see one right as you get t o t he show and say “I am going t o look around a while and I’ll come back if I don’t see it somewhere else.” T hen when you don’t see it , ret urn t o f ind t he original has been sold t o someone else. Were t hey wiser or had t hey just been at t he show longer? T his is what makes collect ing of anyt hing f un. T he hunt er is st ill in t here, inside us. We no longer get up in t he morning wit h bow or spear and head out t o f ind f ood or t o f ight . But , in us is t hat spirit t o conquer somet hing. It may have been reduced t o t he conquest of t he mall f or clot hes or t he gem show f or met eorit es. But , I t hink it is part ly what keeps online auct ions sit es alive. T he “I GOT IT ” f eeling. So next mont h I will give my yearly report of Tucson. Feel f ree t o read in bet ween t he

lines a f ew caveman expressions of a successf ul hunt . For I guarant ee if t his year is like most I will be just as happy about what I come home wit h, as our dist ant ancest or was about get t ing his elk or deer f or dinner. I hope t o see and greet many of you at t he show, and I wish you all a successf ul and prosperous year of collect ing. Unt il next mont h. Jim Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Like

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This Monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Meteorite Market Trends

by Michael Blood Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine The Last Meteorite Found for Year 2009 (Maybe?) by Robert Verish Like

Could this meteorite that was f ound on December 31st (18:50 GMT ) be the very last f ind f or the year 2009? T he weat her f orecast f or t he Sonoran Desert looked perf ect and my schedule was f ree f or t he last f ew remaining days of 2009. So I arranged a t rip out t o t he desert and invit ed some of my f riends. My long-t ime rockhounding part ner, James LaBarbera, accept ed my invit at ion. Af t er he drove down f rom Los Angeles, we t ransf erred his gear int o my t ruck and we headed east t owards t he Colorado River. And af t er get t ing supplies in Yuma AZ, it wasn’t long unt il we were in t he middle of “nowhere”.

Typical landscape in t he Sonoran Desert of Nort h America

Because of t he condit ion of t he dirt roads it would st ill t ake 3 more hours of slow driving t hrough a maze of BLM-approved AT V t rails unt il we arrived at t he desired spot t hat I “pre-select ed” f rom st udy of sat ellit e imagery of t he area. T hrough some st range quirk in cell phone coverage, I am able t o t rack our locat ion on my Blackberry, ot herwise t his port ion of t he t rip could have easily t aken t wice as long.

Ot her t han cholla and ocot illo, t here is very lit t le veget at ion at t his localit y. No met eorit es were recovered on t he f irst day, but because most of t he day was spent just get t ing t o t his “pre-chosen” localit y, we decide t o ret urn direct ly t o t his spot t o resume searching t he next day.

Just discernable in t he middle of t he above image (and of f int o t he dist ance) st ands a met eorit e hunt er, giving some sense of scale t o t he daunt ing t ask of searching f or met eorit es at his localit y. We got a lat e st art , but we event ually f ound our way back t o t he same spot f rom t he previous day where I had a “very good f eeling” about t he surf ace we were searching. I was a lit t le disappoint ed t o see so many AT V t racks on such a nice surf ace, but somet hing t old me t o st op and park t he t ruck immediat ely. I act ually parked just next t o a well-used AT V t rail. Alt hough having cell phone recept ion was a god-send f or helping us locat e t his spot , it also made us vulnerable t o

cell phone recept ion was a god-send f or helping us locat e t his spot , it also made us vulnerable t o dist ract ing phone calls. Which was exact ly what happened while I was parking t he t ruck: James got a phone call on his cell phone. Not sure why, but wit hout grabbing any of his gear, James decided t o get out of t he t ruck in order t o t ake his phone call. Figuring t hat James want ed some privacy as he walked around t he t ruck t alking on his cell phone, I st ayed inside t he t ruck and t ook my t ime gearing-up f or t he morning hike. It wasn’t very long unt il I heard a t apping sound on t he f ront passenger side window. It was James, st ill t alking on his cell phone, but he was smiling and point ing st raight down, which I immediat ely knew was t he “int ernat ional sign” f or “you just parked next t o a met eorit e – AGAIN!” T he reason I say “again” is because t his has happened more t han just a couple t imes in t he past . In f act , t his happens of t en enough t hat we now measure t he dist ance f rom t he t ruck t o t he f ind, and in t his case, it was only t he 3rd short est dist ance! I insist t hat t here is no way, st at ist ically speaking, t o explain t his phenomenon. T here’s anot her version of t he phenomenon t hat is well-known t o met eorit e-hunt ers, in which you hike all day but f ind not hing, only t o ret urn t o your vehicle and t hen f ind a met eorit e lying next t o it . So, I’m not complaining. I’d rat her have t he met eorit e f ound immediat ely, as opposed t o f inding it only af t er hiking all day. Of course, we hiked all day and didn’t f ind anot her met eorit e.

Somewhere in t he above image t here lies (at least ) one met eorit e. Hint : f ollow t he f resh AT V t rack along t he lef t side of t his image. Inst ead of repeat ing what I wrot e in one of my earlier art icles about my met hod of t aking “in-sit u” images, I’ll just redirect you t o my May 2004 art icle. You can do so by “clicking” on t his link below:

“Taking Pict ures of Met eorit es In-Sit u – Images of “in-place” met eorit es – as t hey were f ound on t he ground. ”

T he image above is a close-up of t he previous image.

Above is anot her in-sit u image of t he met eorit e and t he f ind locat ion. Hint : see t he next image.

T he above image is a close-up of t he previous image.

T he above image is an in-sit u view rot at ed 180degrees f rom t he previous image, now looking back int o t he direct ion of t he sun, producing a st rong ref lect ion of sunlight .

T he above image is a close-up of t he previous image. Not ice t hat James is st ill t alking on his cell phone while searching f or more met eorit es.

T he t ypical close-up view of most "in-sit u met eorit e" images.

T he above image is a dif f erent version of t he "t ypical close-up view of most in-sit u images". I like t o t ake t his shot af t er having ext ract ed t he just f ound met eorit e, f lipping it over and laying it up-side-down next t o it s f ormer rest ing place. T his kind of shot gives us unique "once only" inf ormat ion t hat we can never "go back in t ime" t o obt ain. Not ice t hat t he scale cube has t he "B" on t op.

Af t er t aking t he obligat ory suit e of in-sit u images I like t o t ake a couple images of t he immediat e area around t he f ind locat ion, and at t he same t ime use t his as an opport unit y t o t ake anot her image of t he "just -plucked" met eorit e.

T he above t wo images are dif f erent in t hat t hey are t aken wit h dif f erent lens set t ings. T he f ormer was t aken in macro mode and t he

lat t er was set t o inf init y. Most phot ographers st rive t o keep t heir shadow out side of t he f ield-of -view of t heir shot , but in t hese t wo images, my shadow is int ent ionally included.

Alt hough t his st ony was mildly at t ract ed t o a magnet , it did not produce any response on my Whit eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VSat Goldmast er met al-det ect or (unf ort unat ely).

T he above image depict s t he 2009-12-31 met eorit e f ind af t er it has been cleaned in warm dist illed wat er, removing any sand or clay f rom it s ext erior. Now t hat t his specimen has been "cleaned" it can be weighed. It s mass is 21.3 grams.

T he above image depict s t he "bot t om-side" of t his post -cleaned (but pre-cut ) 2009-12-31met eorit e f ind.

Since t he above images were t aken t his specimen has been cut . A 6.7 gram sample has been ext ract ed, f rom which a t hin-sect ion will be made and t he remaining mass will be submit t ed as a t ype specimen. Preliminary examinat ion suggest s t hat t his st ony is an equilibrat ed L-chondrit e.

Moni Waiblinger and James LaBarbera lat er t hat same day (New Years Eve) at t he Barona Casino. We made our solit ary f ind on New Years Eve 2009. At t his t ime of year sunset comes early. And even bef ore sunset , t he shadows get long early and get in t he way of t rying t o spot small dark st ones on a gravel surf ace. So, we depart ed early, giving us plent y of t ime t o t ravel back t o San Diego and meet f or dinner wit h Moni Waiblinger. We decided on a popular buf f et at a gaming casino on a small indian reservat ion called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baronaâ&#x20AC;?. T he chef s t here put t oget her a special New Years Eve Dinner. Unlike ot her buf f et s, here you can reserve your spot and not have t o wait in a long line. Of course, t his allows t he pat rons t o go of f and gamble some more, but James cont inued wit h his good luck by winning $400! Using t he same slot machine, Moni and I won enough t o pay f or our meal. T he King Crab legs were one of many highlight s of t he dinner. Over dinner we discussed our recent t rip and wondered whet her our f ind was t he last one made f or year 2009, and whet her it was t he last met eorit e f ound f or t his past decade (if you count year 2000 as t he beginning of t he past decade). We ref lect ed on t he past 10 years, and speculat ed on what t he next 10 years would bring. T he buf f et closed and we moved t he part y out int o t he casino.

T he aut hor wit h James inside t he Barona Casino t oast ing t he New Year wit h f ree glasses of champagne. (Image by Moni.) T he Barona Casino made a special ef f ort f or t his New Years Part y by having a variet y of venues f or ent ert ainment . Well bef ore midnight t hey st art ed dispensing t he f ree champagne. T hen f inally a mult it ude of colorf ul balloons f ell f rom t he raf t ers. Happy New Year everyone!

As evidenced by t he poor qualit y of t he above image, all of t he f ree champagne has degraded my abilit y t o t ake a decent pict ure. But we had a lot t o celebrat e t hat night . What a way t o end t he year. We can only hope t hat t he new year (and t he coming decade) will be as f ort hcoming wit h new met eorit e f inds and f alls!

References: Bob’s Findings – art icle t it led, Taking Pict ures of Met eorit es – In-Sit u Images of “in-place” met eorit es – as t hey were f ound on t he ground”, in Met eorit e-Times.com – May 2004. Link t o t he websit e wit h t he lat est issue of : MAPS Vol. 44 Supplement 2009 July

My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*

For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine IMCA Insights â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January 2010 by IMCA TEAM Like

Irons f rom Space Pictures of the Day by Dave Gheesling Af t er a recent business t rip t o neighboring Sout h Carolina, I was f ort unat e enough t o cat ch Michael Johnson during a f ree moment and get a personal t our of his spect acular met eorit e collect ion. Michael is probably best known by all of us in t he met eorit e communit y f or his t errif ic Rocks f rom Space Pict ure of t he Day (aka RFSPOD) post ings t hrough his websit e, www.spacerocksinc.org. But it is Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aest het ic iron met eorit e collect ion t hat is t he real show st opper!

Michael Johnson wit h eight st unning iron met eorit e specimens (six Sikhot e-Alins and t wo Gibeons) (Phot o court esy of Dave Gheesling)

A closer look at t hese specimens, sit t ing at op cust ommade pillars like East er Island st at ues in t heir heyday! (Pict ure court esy of Dave Gheesling)

A ground zero view of t his 10+ kilogram specimen, f eat uring f resh f usion veneer, against a backdrop of P. J. Medvedev's hist oric port rait of February 12, 1947 (Pict ure

court esy of Dave Gheesling)

T he smiling curat or juxt aposed against yet anot her row of met eorit e-t opped pillars (Phot o court esy of Dave Gheesling)

It 's hard t o pick just one, but t his ~5 kilogram nat ural sculpt ure has t o be one of my personal f avorit es (Phot o court esy of Dave Gheesling)

It 's not all about irons f or Michael, as t hese beaut if ul, f resh st ones f rom t he Bassikounou, Allende and Chergach wit nessed f alls at t est (and t he huge et ched Sikhot e-Alin slice shows t he coarsest oct ahedrit e st ruct ure like none ot her I've seen). (Phot o court esy of Dave Gheesling)

My shirt was red when I arrived at Michael's house, but had t urned green wit h envy by depart ure ;-) (Phot o court esy of Dave Gheesling) T hanks again Michael f or your sout hern hospit alit y and t he f ront row view of your wonderf ul met eorit e collect ion! © 2010 Dave Gheesling/FALLINGROCKS.com • IMCA Home Page • IMCA Code of Et hics • IMCA Member List • Join IMCA • IMCA Met eorit e Inf o Please Share and Enjoy:

Meteorite-Times Magazine NWA 4560 LL3.2 by John Kashuba Like

Chuck, Let me point out anot her place t o see good t hin sect ion pict ures. Jef f Hodges has a great collect ion of slides and a very good microscope. He loans t hin sect ions t o Tom Phillips (we t alked about Tom last t ime), part icularly polished sect ions (no glass cover slip) t hat Tom really likes working wit h. Jef f â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evolving sit e is: ht t p://met eorit et hinsect iongallery.com/index.ht ml I just got a t hin sect ion wit h a large variet y of f eat ures. It is f rom a slice of NWA 4560 LL3.2. Take a look. - John

T his is t he slice t he slide was made f rom, f ront and back. I don’t t hink any of eit her of t he t wo obvious inclusions became part of t his part icular slide.

Just f or laughs, here is a dif f erent slice of t his same f ind. Pret t y wild. It s grade of 3.2 t ells us it didn’t get a lot of heat ing back on it s home ast eroid. But obviously it ’s seen some mechanical pushing and shoving.

T his radial pyroxene chondrule has been crat ered and t here is alt erat ion around t he edge. Roger Warin and I have an art icle on crat ered chondrules in t he November 2009 issue of Met eorit e magazine. I hope you are a subscriber. We have pict ures and we t ouch on a f ew t heories of how t hey came t o be.

T his f ragment of a RP chondrule was separat ed af t er alt erat ion t ook place.

Similar st ory, lot s of aqueous alt erat ion bleached t he out side part of a RP chondrule bef ore it broke and a f ragment ended up here.

Let â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have a vocabulary review: Euhedral cryst als are well-f ormed wit h sharp, easily-recognized f aces. Anhedral cryst als lack sharp, recognizable cryst al f aces. Subhedral â&#x20AC;&#x201C; neit her f ish nor f owl.

Here is a cont rast in t ext ures, f ine granular olivine on t he lef t and coarse pyroxene on t he right .

Okay. Nice Barred olivine chondrule wit h a t hin rim, but what â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening t here on t he bot t om?

Ah. Here it is in incident light . Like we suspect ed, t hat black is a big bleb of met al. And t hat ot her business around it looks t o be mat erial accret ed af t er t he BO chondrule f ormed.

Hmmm. Crypt ocryst alline int erior and some well cryst allized port ions on t he out side?

A dusky int erior. Maybe a relict grain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a cryst al f ragment t hat did not (re)melt when t his chondrule f ormed?

T his dark amorphous inclusion is 6 mm long. T he met al has been melt ed but t he mineral f ragment s are angular.

Finally, anot her set of cont rast ing t ext ures including a pair of wispy, poorly cryst allized f ans and a couple variat ions on t he barred olivine t heme. Please Share and Enjoy:

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Once a few decades ago this opening was a framed window in the wall of H. H. Nininger's Home and Museum building. From this window he must have many times pondered the mysteries of Meteor Crater seen in the distance. Photo by ÂŠ 2010 James Tobin