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Meteorite Times Magazine

Contents by Editor

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

Norm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm Lehrman

Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black

Meteorite of the Month by Editor

Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Ochansk: If it’s abundant, it better be good by Martin Horejsi

An August 1887 Witnessed Fall: Ochansk, Russia Ochansk: If it’s abundant, it better be good.

With 500kg of the brecciated H4 named Ochansk arriving on earth, a collector desiring a piece should focus on collectability and a historical paper trail.

In this particular case, the specimen has traveled through at least four documented collections.

At about one o’clock in the afternoon on August 30, 1887, 500kg of H4 chondrite fell from the sky following a glowing meteor and many loud sounds. Landing near the village of Tabory, near Okhansk, the now-named meteorite has made its way into most collections worldwide.

The largest specimen that fell was recorded to be 115kg, and the current main mass is listed as 100kg and living in the University of Kazan in Tatarstan, Russia.

Ochansk is a cement meteorite. In other words, it would be perfectly camouflaged if it fell into a pile of broken concrete.

The specimen label of 267A.1 is from a famous collector and mineral dealer who used the number/letter/decimal designation as a direct reference to the fourth edition of the Catalogue of Meteorites.The label uses a designation from the 1985 version of the Catalogue (aka: the Blue Book). In this case, the meteorite that contains this labile is found on page 267, and is the first meteorite on the first column of the page.

Specimens with cards from the Humboldt University in Berlin are exceedingly rare these days. In some cases, the cards may be worth more than the actual specimen, but of course of little value without the specimen.

Collecting historical witnessed falls often requires the virtues of patience and perseverance. However, those virtues don’t always apply to the simple acquiring of the locality, but sometimes also to the necessity of an exceptional specimen to represent a well-distributed meteorite.

Until next time….

The Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and feedback. [email protected] Meteorite Times Magazine

2012 Vacation Part One “They Came From Space” by Jim Tobin

5:30 AM Wednesday morning the alarm went off though I was already awake. It had been a restless night of sleep. I guess I was pretty excited about the trip we were about to take. Paul was picking me up at 6 AM I had just enough time to set all my stuff outside on my front porch. We were headed to Phoenix with a one-day stop in Quartzsite. There was a meteorite exhibition opening on Friday morning at the Challenger Center in Phoenix. It was being put together by Geoff Notkin. We expected it to be something fantastic.

We arrived at Quartzsite about noon I guess. Drove around town for a few minutes checking out the RV parks. We found one that was pretty nice and headed off to get something to eat. After lunch we made the rounds of the rock stores and collectibles shops. I found some chunks of rock and I simply couldn’t live without. We bought some neat rotating specimen stands. They were solar powered and not very expensive. We got done walking around town which killed about three hours and it was time to head off to the RV park. We got all checked in and as we were leaving the office the woman there told us that the Italian restaurant just down the street was really excellent. Our intent had been to cook something for dinner in the RV. But fresh made restaurant pizza sounded pretty good to both of us. It was just a short walk from the RV so after working on the computer for a couple hours we headed over there. The pizza was just as delicious as we hoped for and since we were walking we both had a couple of beers. Our plan for the next day was to go just down the frontage road a little to a placer gold mining area and do some metal detecting. We would only be able to hunt there for a few hours before it got too hot. It would be over 100º F again. We were out on the hills a little before eight o’clock sweeping the metal detectors. It was a spectacularly bright beautiful day. There were mines, adits, and pits all over the area. All the region west of Quartzsite has been hunted for gold since before the Civil War. After a little while we stopped swinging the metal detectors, and just enjoyed the exploring. We did take a lot of pictures of course. As we hiked up around one little hill we saw something pretty surprising. In all the years of hiked in the desert neither of us had ever come upon a grave before. It was exciting, fascinating, interesting, and just a little tragic all at the same time. Guess we have a research project now to see if there’s anything we can learn about the grave. There have been three major phases of activity out there. The first, before the Civil War, the next around the turn of the last century, and the last the mid-1930s. To me the grave looks older than the 1930s but not as old as the Civil War. The wood that’s left of the cross is really weathered but doesn’t look to be 160 years old. We pressed on from the grave across a valley and up over one more hill which gave us a really good vantage point of the rest of the area. It was about 10:30 AM by then and time to head off to Phoenix. We usually watch movies on my laptop at night in a motorhome. The night before I realized I’d forgotten the power cord that plugs into my power supply. Not only would we not see movies I would not be doing any writing or work during the week. I called my wife and ask her to find it in my office. That was not very hard, it was sitting right next to the where everything for the trip had been piled. She sent me a picture from her phone just to be sure it was the correct cord. And it was the right cord. She took it down to FedEx Office and send it overnight to a location close to where we were going to stay. So by the time we got done hiking and exploring I was able to check and see that it had arrived. We made our way through Phoenix and over to Peoria. The FedEx Office was only one block off the freeway so I hopped out, got the package that was on hold, jumped back in the RV, in about 5 minutes we were back on the road.

We settled into our RV Park, got all showered up and cooled off, we had a couple hours to relax before we headed for dinner. We had been hoping for about a week that Geoff would be able to get his exhibit all set up and could join us for dinner. As it turned out in the last couple hours of working at the museum the exhibit just all came together. Paul and I were really looking forward to dinner. Paul’s brother Tony and his girlfriend Tricia live near Phoenix and they had chosen the place for dinner. It was a wonderful buffet at one of the casinos. Geoff was bringing Tim Mallory a vice president at Fisher Labs, as happy Gold Bug 2 users we were interested in meeting him. Bob Holmes another good friend from Arizona was joining us as well. We had a super great group of people and expected to have a wonderful meal. We were not disappointed, we got to hear great stories told by Geoff and Tim. We got to catch up a little with Bob and it’s always great to see Tony and Tricia. Paul and I always seem to be the last ones to leave restaurants whenever we go out to dinner with Tony and Tricia. The same thing happen this time we looked around and realized no one else was in the buffet and most of the lights had been turned down. Geoff invited us to meet somewhere near his hotel to continue the fun and conversation a little longer.

I have driven through Phoenix about three times in the last 20 years. But I’ve never gotten out of the car until that Thursday morning when I picked up the cord at the FedEx Office. It was pretty surprising to find as we drove to the sports bar across from Geoff’s hotel that it was about 200 feet from the corner that the FedEx Office is on. Just one of those really strange coincidences that happen in life.

Paul and I were on a little bit of a tight schedule. We had to be back on the road by about 1:30 or two o’clock in the afternoon. So we got to the Challenger Center soon after they opened in order to see all the rest of the museum before Geoff’s big opening. It’s a great science center. It has lots of shuttle era memorabilia on display, many interesting pieces of spacecraft hardware, an observing deck on the roof for public star parties, and some great outreach programs for the young and the community at large.

The Challenger Center A portion of the mural that encircles the lower level of the Challenger center A space shuttle tire is only one of many fine samples of spacecraft hardware on display.

There was a reception in one of the conference rooms starting at noon before the ribbon-cutting ceremony for “They Came From Space” Geoff’s wonderful exhibit. The reception was a roomful of dignitaries and famous individuals from Arizona’s meteorite community. We felt pretty honored to be invited. Maria Haas arrived and it is always a joy to see her, so the IMCA was represented at the opening as well. The director for the Challenger Center was MC at the reception. She introduced Tim Mallory who gave a nice though brief talk about Fisher Labs commitment to knowledge and exploration. Fisher Labs is one of the corporate sponsors of the exhibit. We watched a nice long clip from an episode of Meteorite Men, and than it was Geoff’s turn to speak. He gave a great talk, woven together with stories, and lots of humor. The excitement and anticipation were building. Everyone wanted to get into the exhibit. We still had to wait for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Soon enough though the room was open and we got to see a truly fabulous display of meteorites, memorabilia from Meteorite Men, costumes from the show, metal detectors and tools. Geoff Notkin giving his talk to the assembled audience at the reception held before the opening of “They Came From Space” his meteorite exhibit. A split second after the ribbon was cut at the Challenger Center during the grand opening festivities. One of the display cases is devoted to the awards won by the Meteorite Men TV show. Featured in this shot are Geoff’s personal Telly Awards. They are to Television what the Oscars are to motion pictures and he should be very proud indeed. “They Came From Space” is a meteorite exhibit so there were lots of meteorites. This is just one case with irons. This was my favorite display case. It has meteorites of course but it has Geoff’s tools and some of the non meteorite metal objects that he has unearthed. Several of the costumes from the Meteorite Men show were displayed at the exhibit. This is the arctic costume. Note the Mosquito Hat which is for protection from the ravenous bugs in the forests of the Muonionalusta Strewnfield and the woods of Russia and Poland. The exhibit runs for the next year. If you are in the Phoenix area I highly recommend that you visit the Challenger Center and see “They Came From Outer Space”.

We regretfully made our good byes and got on the freeway heading north to our next stop on what proved to be the best vacation we have ever taken (so far). But that is a story to continue in the next two articles. Stay tuned, as the old expression goes to hear more of our adventures on the 2012 vacation trip. Meteorite-Times Magazine

Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood

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The Recovery of the “Novato” Meteorite that Fell on 2012 October 18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT) by Robert Verish

An Article In Meteorite-Times Magazine by Robert Verish The Recovery of the "Novato" Meteorite that Fell on 2012 October 18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT)

A compilation of field reports - images - news items regarding this California meteorite fall.

A comprehensive story about the search for the "Novato" Meteorites is not feasible at this point in the recovery effort. This effort is still on-going, so any method of reporting on this event at this time would have to be "on-going" as well. Something like a "blog" would work. The format of this article would not work. But a link from this article to a webpage that can be updated frequently would actually serve that purpose.

"Click" HERE, to be sent to my webpage which is a compilation of images, press releases, and reports, all regarding the hunt for meteorites from the "Novato" fall.

The name "Novato" is not, yet, a formally-approved name for the L6 brecciated chondrite (A. Rubin, 2012) which is the composition of the stones that comprise the "Novato Meteorite fall".

Novato is located in northern Marin County in what is called the "North Bay" (about 1/2 hour north of San Francisco on Rt101).

The bright fireball, which was witnessed by many observers in the North Bay in the early evening hours, traveled from SSW to NNE and dropped meteorites all along its path, all the way up to Novato. Meteorites most likely landed in Sonoma County, as well.

To see images of what these meteorites look like, "click" HERE!

Novato, California The above image shows a map depicting some of the streets and public parks in Novato, CA.

The above image shows some of the streets and parks that many people (myself included) have searched looking for meteorites.

Except for the first stone which fell and hit the roof of a house on St. Francis Ave, the next three stones were found on pavement, such as public streets and parking lots. Undoubtably, many more stones have come to rest on other roofs, driveways, parks, playgrounds, and yards on private property. We will need the help of all private property owners in Marin and Sonoma Counties in the recovery of these stones. Feel free to contact me if you think you have found one of these stones: Posted originally on 2012/11/04 | by Robert Verish

Please add your Comments below.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: A big "Thank you!" goes out to all the guys at Galactic Analytics.

REFERENCES:

Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) Mission statement - CAMS is an automated video surveillance of the night sky in search of meteors to validate minor showers in the IAU Working List of Meteor Showers. Stations are located in California.

UPDATES - Click "Recent Updates" - to go to an extension of this Bob's Findings Article for November 2012 - to see an on-going compilation of links regarding the "Novato" meteorite fall. These "updates" will appear on that website under this title : Findings from the Strewn-field: Field Reports of the Meteorite-Recovery Lab by Bob Verish The October Fireball and Meteorite Fall in the Novato California Area A compilation of news stories and reports about this meteorite fall. http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2012/novato/novato.htm

My previous articles can be found *HERE*

For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser

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Dellen Tagamite Sweden by John Kashuba

Dellen Crater is a roundish lake system in central Sweden near the east coast 180 miles north of Stockholm. It is about 11 miles across. The impact that formed it occurred 89.0 ± 2.7 million years ago.

Some of the impact rock from the site is called tagamite. It is a term that was introduced in 1975 to describe impact rock from the Popigai crater in Russia. Varieties of tagamites are described based on crystallinity, texture and clast content.

Some writers call these rocks by the local name “dellenites”. Others make the case for referring to all such as simply “impact melt rock”.

Eight millimeter wide view of a thin section of Dellen Sweden tagamite in transmitted light.

Brown impact melt glass containing crystals and mineral grains. FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

The circular features are concentric curved fractures, “perlitic” texture. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Near the center of this view are several small dark fans of fine crystals in the solidified melt. FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

In cross polarized light the glass is black. FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

The dark fans are fine crystals the grew in the melt before it solidified. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Another set of fine radiating crystals in the solidified impact glass. When Dellen material has this fine texture throughout it is called cryptocrystalline tagamite. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Crystals and mineral grains in impact glass. Cross polarized light. FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Fractured mineral grain in impact glass. Cross polarized light. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Mineral grains and inclusions in impact glass. Thin section in transmitted light. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Australite Indicator Core

By Norm Lehrman, www.Tektitesource.com

Upon first introduction to an Australite ablation core it is a common error to confuse the anterior and posterior surfaces. The always present smoothly rounded surface is very suggestive of the frontal shield on an oriented chondrite, but this impression is incorrect. As Australites made their final plunge through the atmosphere, the frontal surface heated to the point where thin layers of melt formed and streamed back, exactly analogous to an oriented meteorite. In the case of the classic flanged button morphology, a nice roll-over lip formed and survived, but this seems only to have happened in a rather narrow size range. If the tektite was a little larger in diameter than typical flanged buttons, a thermal disequilibrium developed between the white-hot frontal surface and the vacuum-refrigerated rear. This expansion/contraction couplet caused patellate flakes to burst free of the frontal surface creating the irregular fluted face of an ablation core. The absolute clincher for this story is found in the “indicator cores” like that featured this month. These are ablation cores arrested in the very act of exfoliating skin wedges---flanged buttons that were just a tiny bit too big--- and pie-shaped wedges began to burst off. But the crowning glory of an indicator core (and the reason for its name) is that the process didn’t go to full completion. A few wedges of the frontal skin remain attached to the core. In this example, the remnants display the spectacular and utterly uncontestable orientation features of a flanged Aussie button--- frontal vortex ring-waves and well-developed roll-over flanges. The part of the core that has lost flakes is a perfect fluted ablation core. Together, these features tell the whole story in graphic detail. During a career devoted to trying to read rocks, I hugely appreciate one that tells a good story with exceptional clarity. Behold, the fabulous Australite Indicator Core! (from our collection). Meteorite Times Magazine

Meteorite Calendar – November 2012 by Anne Black

Please click on the meteorite calendar to view a larger image. Meteorite Times Magazine

Patos de Minas by Editor

Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hosts The Meteorite Picture of the Day.

Contributed by John Lutzon, IMCA 1896 – 61.52 grams of the octahedrite variety. Iron, IAB complex

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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.