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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: Yurtuk, Ukraine by Martin Horejsi Like
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An April 1936 Witnessed Fall: Yurtuk, Ukraine
A Double Hammer Stone! Borne from Impact on an Asteroid. Hammered a House here on Earth.
To behold a howardit e is t o gaze upon t he physical manif est at ion of t he past and present dynamic processes of our solar syst em. Alt hough howardit es command some of t he highest prices of t he HEDs, essent ially t hey are just ast eroid dirt classif ied as a proport ional mix of t wo or more arist ocrat ic met eorit es.
What would you get if you tossed a eucrite and a diogenite in a blender? According t o met eorit e dealer Blaine Reed, you would get a howardit e. Howardit es are samples of t he soil on an ast eroid made f rom surf ace eucrit es mixed wit h subsurf ace diogenit es as well as a breccia of t he impact or t hat brought t he f ormer t wo t oget her. Of t en t he basalt ic ast eroid was hit by a chondrit e so essent ially a howardit e is t he result ant polymict breccia of t he most popular achondrit es and chondrit es pulverized and recement ed int o a rare met eorit e class named Edward Charles Howard (1774 -1816) a Brit ish chemist described as “t he f irst chemical engineer of any dist inct ion. Howard was t he f irst t o not ice t he presence of a nickel-iron alloy across many dif f erent
met eorit es. T husly met eorit es are more chemically similar t o each ot her t han t hey are t o t he eart h rocks.
T he common published descript ion of t he eart hly arrival of Yurt uk is t he f ollowing: In Mikhailov dist rict , Lubimov, Ukraine, at about 1:00 in t he morning on April 2, 1936, one st one of 509g f ell t hrough t he roof of a house. Several more pieces were picked up out side t he house including one of 51.5g. T he t ot al known weight of Yurt uk is 1.472kg. Alt hough t he t ot al known weight is a palt ry 1472 grams, t wo t hings st and out . First , t he T KW is act ually f airly large as f ar as howardit es go, and second, t he ent ire f all cont ains an unknown number of specimens.
Where do howardit es come f rom? Well, t hey are basically t he soil of an ast eroid creat ed t hrough an impact mixing process described above. Essent ially, t he upper lef t of t he diagram t urns int o t he lower right . It ’s act ually a lit t le more complex and f ascinat ing t han t hat so f or a richer explanat ion, please consult t he howardit e ent ry in O. Richard Nort on’s wonderf ul book Rocks f rom Space.
[diagram ref erence: Labot ka, T. C. & Papike, J. J. Howardit es: Samples of t he regolit h of t he parent body. Lunar and Planet ary Science Conf erence, 11t h, Houst on, T X, March 17-21, 1980, Proceedings. Volume 2, 1980]
Except f or t he mid 20t h cent ury f all dat e, Yurt uk is a rare class of rare classes, a hammer st one of very small t ot al known weight and low dist ribut ion. But Yurt uk, and all howardit es f or t hat mat t er, are act ually “Double Hammers” because t hey are t he of f spring of a cosmic hammering bef ore mat uring t o t he point of cont inuing t he circle of violence here on eart h. T he beaut y of t he howardit e is wit hin t he anger f rom which it was creat ed. One of t he t ruly inspiring aspect s of howardit es is f ound wit hin it s mat rix. T he gorgeous int ricacies of t he howardit e’s int erior mat ches t he excit ement of any good junkyard. Rich wit h bit s and pieces of past lives, t he howardit e is a reservoir of geologic jewels some more obvious t han ot hers. Not e t he green gem in t he cent er of t his pict ure. Looks t o me like t he hubcap of f an old diogenit e.
T he f usion crust on Yurt uk, like any good calcium-rich achondrit e, is a glossy jet black f ilm providing about t he most cont rast possible bet ween t he int erior and ext erior of a met eorit e: liquid t ar on snow. For many, t he Joy of Fusion Crust is f ound on t he lesser weat hered hot desert f inds, but lest we f orget what unt ouched crust looks like. Impossible t o mist ake. Hard t o explain. To misquot e somebody, “Talking about f resh f usion crust is like dancing about archit ect ure.” Trust me. You’ll know it when you see it . But you might not believe it ’s real.
Mouseover t he above pict ure t o see a color-invert ed version. Swiping your mouse on an of f t he image allows your eyes t o more quickly f ind int erest ing f eat ures t hat eit her image in isolat ion would not highlight . Yurt uk, like most howardit es provides a pot pourri of met eorit es all embedded wit hin one. T he cut f ace above exhibit s classic howardit e
t ext ure which act ually means it is a diverse conglomerat e of eucrit e, diogenit e and chondrit e f ragment s. I like t o believe t hat t he large dark likely condrit ic mass just right of cent er is act ually a piece of t he Ensisheim parent body. A st ret ch you t hink? Possibly, but consider t hat you just cont emplat ed t his concept f or t he f irst t ime in your lif e. How of t en does t hat happen in t his column? For me, Yurt uk was one t hose highly collect able met eorit es t hat had such a degree of availabilit y sat urat ion t hat I didn’t t ake it as seriously as I should have. T hen one day, I lit erally woke up one morning and t hought t o myself , “Why have I not bought t he great piece of Yurt uk list ed on a part icular dealer’s websit e?” Lat er t hat day, af t er making an of f er f ollowed by a humble explanat ion t o t he dealer as t o who was emailing him (silly me. I t hought everyone would recognize all my dif f erent email addresses.) we shook elect ronic hand on t he deal. A week lat er, I was st aring at a gorgeous specimen of Yurt uk t hat was act ually f airly large as f ar as privat e collect ions go. Short ly af t er t he Yurt uk t ook up residence in my collect ion, it occurred t o me t hat t here was anot her specimen or t wo t hat alt hough were at t he t op of my want -list , had eluded me f or years. And t his part icular dealer might just be able t o help me out . Unt il next t ime…. T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Cleaning Meteorites by Jim Tobin Like
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T his mont h is going t o be kind of a weird mix of t opics. I may even disappoint a f ew people by doing somet hing I rarely do and t hat is not revealing a secret . First , it came t o my at t ent ion by an int erest ed reader of a past art icle f rom a couple mont hs ago t hat I had never writ t en in Met eorit e Times t hat my lit t le book on Tools and Techniques f or Cut t ing and Preparing Met eorit es was f inished. I had made a post t o t he met eorit e list but never here. So anyone int erest ed in learning a lit t le about lapidary work as it relat es t o met eorit es you can get a beginners course by reading my book. It is available direct ly f rom me. It is short enough t hat I am print ing it myself and binding it in a convenient coil binding, so it will lay f lat when you are working. Just drop me an email t o order it f or $12 plus $6 shipping. Boy, I am glad t o be done wit h t hat commercial. T here have been quit e a f ew emails lat ely on t he list about cleaning met eorit es. Well, I have developed a secret met hod t hat is so cont rollable t hat as you can see in t he f ollowing pict ures I can act ually remove 50 years of discolorat ion and bring out t he buried black f usion crust exact ly how I want . We had a bat ch of Gaos t hat needed cleaning and in a about t hree hours I had rest ored around a hundred or so t o a beaut if ul dark gray or black. When we had picked t hem out we t hought we were having t o t ake many t hat were broken. T he int ent was t hat I would grind and polish windows on t hose. But , when t hey were cleaned I f ound t hat all but about t hree of t he apparent breaks were in f act secondary f usion crust ed bumpy surf aces.
Maybe someday I will reveal t he process. I’m not sure but t here maybe some money t o be made of f ering t he cleaning t o ot hers. So it remains my lit t le secret f or t he t ime being. I hear some of t he chemical bat h met hods of cleaning and I just cringe. I would never put a st one in anyt hing. I have t rouble using dist illed wat er or 99% alcohol when cut t ing and f inishing t hem. Some irons get cleaned t ill t hey lit erally shine like new money. I guess it is a mat t er of choice wit h t he irons. I personally like irons t o be black or really if I can get t hem orange colored. T hen I am very happy. Just cleaned enough t o get t he dirt , soil and heavy rust of f t hem. T hat ’s t he way I like my irons. But , st ones if t here is a black f usion crust under t hat dirt I am working t o f ind it . I guess chemist ry is not f or me. I was corresponding wit h Anne Black recent ly and she asked me “What exact ly do you look f or and collect ?” T his is a quest ion t hat has been on my mind recent ly. I t hink at t his point I should begin t o bring some f ocus t o my collect ing. To show you how unf ocused it is, I have bought met eorit es just because I liked t he name. For example, Cocklebiddy an H5 f rom Aust ralia just sounds great t o me. I have bought met eorit es because a f riend or relat ive lives where t hey were f ound. Covert was f ound in Osbourne Count y, Kansas and my wif e’s sist er lives in Osbourne. I’m going t o t hink about narrowing in t he boundaries of what I will buy. I t hought about just get t ing new f alls. But , wit h increasing int erest and more successf ul recoveries I might f ind t hat an impossible challenge bot h f rom availabilit y and cost . Maybe, limit ing myself t o only met eorit es f alls in a cert ain port ion of t he world, or f rom a cert ain t ime f rame, say over f if t y years ago and older. T here would be a lot of opport unit y t here and I would not have t o buy any part icular one if it was t oo cost ly. Maybe, I should not be disciplined in my collect ing. Could I just be adding anot her layer of obsession on my obsession? Now f or a short int ermission wit h t his f ollowing pict ure of a spect acular met eorit e.
NWA 5080 is an amazing st one. It has been classif ied as a CV3. As a lover of primit ive chondrit es t his is just what I like t o spend t ime looking at under t he microscope. T here is no visible met al except wit hin a couple of chondrules. I not ed as I was f inishing t he surf aces, t hat t hey had t iny grains of met al wit hin t hem. Look f or a f ew slices t o be available on our websit e soon. As always, comment s, quest ions, and suggest ions f or t opics are welcome and you can send t hem t o me at jim@met eorit e.com unt il next mont h, goodbye. Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Like
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This Month’s Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Spring Cleaning of my prior Planetarium Articles by Robert Verish Like
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We need MORE IMAGES of meteorites that are on display in MUSEUMS and PLANETARIUMS A recent discussion regarding one of my previous Bob’s Findings art icles about t he Fleischman Planet arium at t he Universit y of Nevada, Reno, brought t o my at t ent ion t hat t rying t o f ind images of met eorit es and met eorit e displays in museums and planet ariums, even wit h search engines like Google, will yield very limit ed result s. It ’s my opinion t hat it is incumbant upon t hose of us t hat have visit ed world class collect ions, or have inst it ut ions wit h met eorit es on display near where t hey live t o record and place on-line images of t hese space-rocks, f or example, like Mart in Horejsi’s Oct ober 2006 “T he Accret ion Desk ” art icle. Especially, if you inf requent ly visit your local museum/planet arium/universit y, and it has a met eorit e display, you should record it wit h images. Because it my not be t here t he next t ime you visit . I st ill remember t he met eorit e display at t he Chabot Observat ory in Oakland, CA. But t hat ’s all I have – memories. Because t hat wonderf ul display is now, long gone. (Apparent ly somebody made t he “business-decision” t o remove t he display, because, “t he general public is not int erest ed in met eorit es”! ? T hen t here is t he problem of links t o pre-exist ing web pages of met eorit e displays going away due t o various reasons, such as, websit e revisions or changes in web-host ing. More of t en t han not , t he revised websit e is minus t he images of t he met eorit e displays! One way t o avoid t his problem is, if you have your own websit e, make your own web page. [Here is a good example: Henry Mendoza's Phot os on f acebook.] T hat way, even if you have a change in web-host ing, you can cont rol t he revising of your web pages. And t hat ’s exact ly what happened t o me. A change in service provider has brought about many broken links in some of my previous Bob’s Findings art icles, part icularly t hose involving met eorit e displays at planet ariums f or some reason. So, t his mont h’s art icle is a revisit of t hose met eorit e display image galleries. In t he meanwhile, if you don’t have a websit e, but you have images of your local met eorit e display t hat you would like t o see post ed on-line, f eel f ree t o send t hose images t o me and I will see if t hey can be used in a f ut ure “Bob’s Findings” art icle. Here are links t o my prior art icles about Planet ariums wit h met eorit e displays which have been newly updat ed:
May 2006 – The Adler Planetarium
May 2006 – T he Adler Planet arium
November 2006 Griffith Observatory has REOPENED!
November 2006 – Grif f it h Observat ory has REOPENED! Fixed some broken links t hat were t he result of Met eorit eTimes.com changing t o Met eorit eTimes.com – darn, what a pain t hat lit t le change has caused. Also added some t ext … Enjoy t he images! Ref erences: T he Brit ish and Irish Met eorit e Societ y (BIMS): Brit ish and Irish Met eorit e Collect ions – Det ails of met eorit e exhibit ions which are open t o t he
public. Henry Mendoza’s Phot os: - Colorado School Of Mines and Technology Met eorit e Exhibit 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 – April 2010 by IMCA TEAM Like
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Commemorating Christian Anger (1965-2009) compiled by Andrz ej S. Pilski Today I received an email f rom Harald St ehlik, saying t hat our good f riend Christ ian Anger had a very bad car accident on December 14, 2009, and he died. I am very shocked and sad, because Christ ian was not only a collect or but a f riend. Everybody knows how much f un we had when we were t oget her. We had also ot her privat e cont act and were real f riends. At f irst he t old me t hat he could not come t o t he Munich show because he had so many privat e problems in his mind. T hen he called me T hursday evening when I was in Munich, he decided t o come. So he was wit h us Friday evening at t he Fliegerbräu and st ayed in Munich t ill Sunday af t ernoon. He helped me t o bring some of my mat erial back int o t he car Sunday af t ernoon. T his was t he last t ime I saw him. True f riendship never ends… Hanno St ruf e
Munich 2009 — t he last meet ing Christ ian Anger, Hanno St ruf e, Dirk Hohmann, and his wif e (Phot o court esy of Hanno St ruf e) I just opened my mail and t he shock was immediat e: 51 emails ent it led “Christ ian Anger”! T his could not be some good news… Christ ian was, since t he f irst Ensisheim show, our “bright est light ”, et ernally smiling, a happy-t olive, cool, energet ic, joking, t easing, dancing, charming, f unny, “blast ing” person … but also one of t he most elegant , gent le, gracious, court eous guys. When he would show up in Ensisheim (he was among t he f irst t o come, f rom quit e f ar away), he had a pack of t hat “st rangely delicious” Aust rian beer f or us t o t ast e. But t here were also lot s of met eorit es in his bags, f or ambulant t rade and f or t he consignment room.
Ensisheim 2005 — Main mass of t he new f all f rom Niger/Nigeria Maigat ari-Danduma (Phot o court esy of Hanno St ruf e) T he superb 48g crust ed Maigat ari-Danduma he displayed t here f or sale as premium immediat ely went int o my collect ion, along wit h t he t ext describing it s weird quest t hat Christ ian had personally writ t en. Christ ian soon became our Brot her-Ensi-Met eorit e-Guardian.
Ensisheim 2005, ent hroning ceremony — Christ ian Anger (t op lef t ) is very happy t o be an Ensisheim Met eorit e Guardian! (Phot o court esy of Pet er Marmet ) And he t ruly deserved t his honor, not only t hrough his highly avid passion, compet ence, and love of met eorit es, but also f or his immense kindness, ent husiasm, and respect f or children and young amat eurs. And, oh yes, t he “Ensisheim Sat urday night f evers” could not have been “what t hey were” wit hout Christ ian’s “deep impact .”
Ensisheim 2005 — Part y t ime: Marc Jost , Zelimir Gabelica, Christ ian Anger (Phot o court esy of Pet er Marmet ) I also was so lucky t o meet him last November in Munich and we promised each ot her t o have a “great Ensisheim” again next year. My f riend, now t hat I st art realizing t his won’t happen, I promise you will never be f orgot t en. You are our f irst brot her t o have gone “somewhere over t here,” where you are now, I am sure, happy and in peace. I am right now planning f or your memory some special t reat next June and am sure all t he people t here will join, so as t o be so close t o you again. I will badly miss your “st range Aust rian beverage!” Zelimir Gabelica
Ensisheim 2005 — Harald St ehlik, Francesco Moser, Hanno St ruf e, Zelimir Gabelica, Marcin Cimala, Christ ian Anger on Sat urday evening (Phot o court esy of Hanno St ruf e) T his is very, very sad news. Christ ian will t ruly be missed, and my t hought s and prayers are wit h his f riends and relat ives. I knew Christ ian f or many years, and he used t o visit me at my home prior t o t he Ensisheim shows t o t alk about our f avorit e passion, and t o show of f or t o t rade rocks f rom space. He was one of t he kindest persons you can imagine, always f riendly and joking, wit h a big heart in t he right place. His passing away leaves a void t hat can’t be f illed. T here are a lot of anecdot es t hat come t o my mind when I t hink of Christ ian, t oo many t o t ell. One is a st ory around t he large main mass of HaH 173 which Christ ian t raded f rom me years ago. T he
is a st ory around t he large main mass of HaH 173 which Christ ian t raded f rom me years ago. T he int erior of t hat L6 was very f resh (W0-1), but t he mass had been buried in t he desert and it was t ot ally covered wit h a t ough caliche coat ing, making it an ugly duckling. However, Christ ian could see t he swan in it , and in weeks of met iculous work he manually removed all t he caliche—I didn’t recognize t he mass when he sent me a pict ure of it ! It really looked like a f resh f all as Christ ian had managed t o bring out t he original f usion crust which was hidden under t he caliche coat ing. Christ ian always had a great passion f or his met eorit es, and handled t hem wit h ut most care. Whenever he purchased a slice, he manually polished it so t hat he could also enjoy it under t he microscope. He was an exemplary curat or of his space rocks, second t o none. And he was a great guy, a real buddy. I had t he pleasure t o serve wit h him on t he IMCA Board of Direct ors. It was a pleasure t o have him as a f ellow Brot her of t he Ensisheim Met eorit e Brot herhood of Guardians, and – last but not least —as a f riend. Christ ian: your great sense of humor and your passion will sorely be missed. Godspeed! Norbert Classen President IMCA Inc.
Ensisheim 2006 — Christ ian Anger joking at t he annual Dinner Part y (Phot o court esy of Pet er Marmet ) “My name is Christ ian Anger. I live in Aust ria on t he hist orical soil of t he biggest ancient Roman legion camp called “Carnunt u.” On t his area are t wo villages now. One of t hem is my homet own Bad Deut sch-Alt enburg on t he most east ern f oot hills of t he east ern Alps called “Hundsheimer Mount ains.” It ’s about 50 km east of Vienna riverdown t he river Danube, near t he border t o Slovakia. My job is const ruct ion engineer f or road const ruct ions and pavement s.
My most f amous int erest s are amat eur ast ronomy, met eorit e collect ing (and a bit hunt ing and t rading and selling), as well as impact st ruct ures and met eorit e crat ers of our planet Eart h. T he root s of my int erest in met eorit es and relat ed mat t ers are in amat eur ast ronomy and collect ing some minerals when I was a boy. Twent y f ive years ago I got a small book about st ars and planet s. I t ook some old binoculars and looked, as recommended in t his book, up t o t he clear skies. I will never f orget t his moment . It af f ect ed my whole lif e. I also collect ed minerals at t his t ime. We have an ancient quarry here in my homet own. T here are some caverns, where I climbed int o t o pick up calcit es. My special int erest in ast ronomy is t he explorat ion of our solar syst em. I t ried t o get all t he inf ormat ion t he space probes sent back t o Eart h. But at t his t ime t here were not many books and magazines available in Aust ria. In 1993 I got my f irst int ernet account . T hen I was able t o get all t his inf ormat ion and images f rom t he planet s and t heir moons of our solar syst em. I loved t his st range and ext raordinary landscapes and especially t he impact crat ers. T his was t he point when my int erest in ast ronomy went int o t he science of met eorit e crat ers and impact st ruct ures, especially of our planet Eart h. T hen I want ed t o hold t he t hings, which caused such crat ers, in my own hand. Amat eur ast ronomy and mineral collect ing cumulat ed in my love t o met eorit es. My f irst met eorit e was a Sikhot e-Alin 49 g Individual. A very int erest ing one. It is 3/4 an ablat ed Individual and 1/4 a shrapnel. It is broken open on one side and you see a spiral shape like a t hread in t he int erior. From t his moment on, I was complet ely f ascinat ed about met eorit es and t his love is st ill growing. T he most beaut if ul experience in t his passion was my f irst own f inding of a met eorit e: an individual f rom a f resh f all – Moravka. My goal in collect ing met eorit es is t o have at least one specimen of every t ype (and subt ype) of met eorit es. I am t ype-collect or. I also collect t ekt it es, all t ypes of impact mat erials, and I have a small collect ion of met eorwrongs f or comparison purposes.” Christ ian Anger (About me)
Ensisheim 2006 — Christ ian Anger, Anne Black, and Dave Schult z In t he background: Mike Farmer, Hans Koser and f riend (Phot o court esy of Pet er Marmet ) I’m so sorry reading t he sad news. We knew each ot her since last cent ury and I was of t en t alking wit h him at Gif horn/Munich/Ensisheim shows. One day, when I was in my home in Poland Erich Haiderer and Christ ian gave me a call t o get some advice f or Morasko-irons hunt ing. Inst ead of going t o Morasko, I recommended t o go t o t he f resh f all area near Moravka in t he Czech Republic. T hey f ollowed my advice and af t er 6 days hunt ing, Christ ian f ound a great individual of around 130 g under a t ree! I was so happy about his discovery and excit ement t o f ind his f irst met eorit e! Lat er in Gif horn he gave me a small piece of it as a gif t .
Rest in peace, Christ ian, and keep an eye t o hazardous ast eroids. T homas Kurt z Ries-crat er / Germany Compiled by Andrzej S. Pilski, edit ed by Larry & Nancy Lebof sky • 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 869 More Features by John Kashuba Like
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Chuck, T hank you f or t he baggie of NWA 869 slices. I’ve gone t hrough t hem all at least t wice wit h a 10X loupe. I f ound a f ew int erest ing t hings t o show you. Some of t hem we t alked about last t ime. I have t o admit t hat it t ook me a while t o make some of t hese pict ures. Met al and ot her shiny t hings have t o have t he light just right . T he f irst f ew here, t hough, were pret t y st raight f orward.
T hese successive slices have nice clean boundaries bet ween rock t ypes. Not a rare t hing in brecciat ed st ones, just a good example. Here, t he light colored rock at t he t op is t he more met amorphosed, t he dark at t he bot t om is t he lesser alt ered by heat .
T hese slices f aced each ot her. You know t hat , you made t he cut t hat divided t his cement -gray f ine grained inclusion. Except f or a lit t le met al it is nearly f eat ureless. I wonder what researchers will t ell us t his mat erial is.
T his f ine grained mat erial is slight ly more coarse. Met al seems t o be only around t he edges.
A green cryst al. What do you t hink? Pyroxene?
T his chondrule and it s int ernal st ruct ure st and out nicely. Pret t y good f or no t hin sect ioning and only a f ine sanding. It looks like t here is one chondrule complet ely inside anot her.
T he shiny whit e is iron–nickel met al, t he shiny bronze is t roilit e, iron sulf ide. You have t o have t he light at t he right angle t o see t hese.
More det ail. It ’s t ricky get t ing t he light right under a microscope.
T hese colors - blue, purple, orange, yellow - appear t o be on a pat ch of t roilit e. T hey probably represent dif f erent t hicknesses of oxides on t he surf ace of t he sulf ide. T his is similar t o t he colors seen on a st eel knif e blade while t empering it . My guess is t hat af t er you cut and sanded t his slice somet hing in t he crack spread and promot ed t he changes. Reminder: Troilit e FeS Pyrit e FeS2 Pent landit e (Fe,Ni)9 S8
Armored chondrules. I love t hem.
- John Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Calendar – April 2010 by Anne Black Like
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Meteorite-Times Magazine Gujba by Michael Johnson Like
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Gujba. T his met eorit e f ell on April 3rd, 1984 in Yobe, Nigeria. A large conical st one was seen t o f all and was smashed up by t he villagers. Only about 5 kilos has been recovered. Gujba is classif ied as a Bencubbinit e. T his is a t ype of chondrit e, relat ed t o t he carbonaceous chondrit es, but wit h chondrules of met al! Very lit t le is known about t hem and Gujba is t he f irst wit nessed f all f rom t his rare class of met eorit es. T his is wit hout a doubt t he st rangest met eorit e I have ever seen. Š Michael Farmer Images, t ext are Copyright Š 2010 ROCKSFROMSPACE.ORG. No reproduct ion wit hout writ t en permission. Web design by Michael Johnson of rocksf romspace.org ROCKS FROM OUT ER SPACE Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Lens Shaped Australites by Editor Like
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0.5 gram and 1.7 gram specimens f rom T he Darryl Fut rell Collect ion of Tekt it es phot ographed wit h one of Tom Phillips's 1 cm Wood Scale Cubes Please Share and Enjoy:
Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite-Times Sponsors by Editor Like
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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 Š 2010 James Tobin