Meteorite-Times Magazine
Contents by Editor
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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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Witnessed Fall: Alfianello, Italy by Martin Horejsi
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An February 1883 Witnessed Fall: Alfianello, Italy A Beauty Forged by Air. A Form Destroyed by Rage. A Treasure Lost through Excess.
My specimen of Alfianello reminds me of a polished rock bookend sold by the pair in small town gift shops. Its weight in can be measured in pounds, and its dimensions in inches- including its thickness. Of course metric units are the industry standard, but US measurement can be so much fun since their crude precision is smug with irresponsible surplus.
Making its debut at the Accretion Desk is an faux antique scale cube created by Tom Phillips. Tom calls these cubes “Martin Cubes” after me because he thought I would like them given my interest- make that obsession- with historic witnessed falls. Tom was right, and he can be contacted at: [email protected] .
It was an interesting morning when I got a slab of Italian history from Bob Haag. The day before, while at the 2005 Tucson Show, my collection turned a corner in status when Bob passed a whole handful of torches on to me…for a price of course.
Bob and I were going to complete the deal the following day, so when I showed up the next morning, I quizzed Bob about the Alfianello sitting in his display case before completing our deal. He named a price, and in an rarely used but highly practiced reply, I agreed to the sale without really thinking about it. In fact I didn’t need to think much at all because deep down in my subconscious, the mere act of asking was already its own answer.
Fusion crust engulfs one edge of my slice like black on a charred log.
or
Sensuous undulations of frozen liquid rock embrace the regmaglypts like black silk sheets clinging to sweaty lovers.
In real estate, one can use market values of similar properties for comparison. But in this case, there was nothing like it available in the world (to my knowledge anyway) and there hadn’t been in a long time (as far as I knew).
Was it old? Yes, well over a century.
Did it have crust? Yup. Plenty.
A rich collection history? Richer than a $10 chocolate truffle.
What about TKW?
Well, the aimless blade of science-to quote Neil Young- would say there are 228kgs that fell from the sky. But a recent global collection inventory of Alfianello could account for less than a quarter of that amount. So with ~50kgs accounted for, that means that my piece of Alfianello represents at least 2% of the total known material. And given the number of smaller pieces in collections, it also places my piece in the upper echelons of size.
Rare class?
Good thing I don’t worry about such trivial details as classification. And so what if Alfianello is the most common meteorite class in the solar system. All kidding aside, although Alfianello is an L6 chondrite it does have some large chondrules including one very nice megachondrule. There is also enough shiny metal flake to keep a whole school of bass busy all day. This Easter Egg of a megachondrule overpowers every other internal feature on this slice. I figure that any time one can use a scale cube to show the size of a chondrule, it’s a good thing!
But I digress. Although adding the purchase of Alfianello to my pile of amazing meteorites raised the total I spent with Bob that weekend by half again as much, I knew that there was no way such an opportunity would ever come my way again, or at least again before my wallet had a chance to recover. A rich collection history? What could be better than this? Oh, ok. I can imagine better too, but you’ve got to admit that provenance from the famous Humboldt University Museum in Berlin followed by the Robert A. Haag collection is hard to beat these days.
On May 26, 1883, the Stevens Point Journal newspaper in Stevens Point, Wisconsin ran a story about the Alfianello fall. A few notable points in the playful slice of newsprint history include that the meteorite was hot, stunk, and most of all, shaped like a truncated cone.
A truncated cone?
A quick google search for “truncated cone” yields a first hit for wikipedia’s entry for f rustum that contains the following line: “In the aerospace industry, f rustum is the common term f or the f airing between two stages of a multistage rocket (such as the Saturn V), which is shaped like a truncated cone.”
Cool!
Here’s the text from the article:
An Aerolite The Rome correspondent of the St. James Gazette says that on the 16th of February some peasants working in a field near Brescia were startled by hearing a loud report like thunder. Looking up they saw the clouds torn open, and a large body followed by a train of bluish smoke hurtling through the air over their heads with the noise of an express train.
The aerolite buried itself in an adjoining field, the fall causing a shock like that of earthquake. It was felt ten kilometers away, while the report was heard at Verona and Piacenze, many miles distant.
When they had recovered from their fright the peasants hurried to the spot, and found a clean hole about three feet deep running in an oblique direction from north- northeast; and on digging down they came to a solid block, in the form of a truncated cone, weighing from four to five hundred pounds.
The surface, which was still hot, and emitted a sulfurous smell, was covered with a greenish black crust, full of small holes, such as would be made by finger-tips in a soft paste, which may have given rise to the report that one of the fragments bore the impress of a hand.
The proprietor of the clover-field in which the aerolite fell flew into a rage at his crops being trampled down by people coming to see it, and broke it up, when it was carried away piece meal. So he gained nothing but damage to his fields, while those who picked up the pieces found a ready sale for them, one man getting as much a seven thousand franks for a lump that weighed twenty-five pounds.
On a subsequent search by Professor Bombicci, of Bologna, several pieces of scorize, apparently detached from the aerolite in its flight, were found in the neighborhood.”
As you can read, the beautifully oriented 228kg individual of Alfianello was broken to pieces through the rage of the caretaker. But had the farmer played a different card, he might have had the story of one of the world’s most famous oriented stone meteorite falls in history forever linked to his family name in the history books. Sadly, even when stones fall from the sky today, they often suffer the same fate of shallow minds who misdirect their frustrations, or expect internally buried treasure.
On another note, it seems that “Professor Bombicci of Bologna” was a busy man. Here are two links for his legacy. The first is for the L. Bombicci Mineralogy Museum, and the second is for a specimen collection card from the Luigi Bombicci Mineralogical Museum at the University of Bologna founded 1860.
Even the so-called ordinary L6 is filled with jewels from our ancient solar system. Under a microscope or magnifying glass, this slice of cosmic property provides acres and hours of enjoyment as you discover the shapes, colors and features jam-packed into a seemingly monotone structure.
You can mouse-over the images both above and below to compare real color to inverted color. By doing so, different features- and features within features- in the Alfianello matrix jump out.
Another more technical article was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 35 (1883), pp. 258-260. Here is an excerpt from that article addressing the circumstances of the fall and recovery of Alfianello.
Examination of the Meteorite which f ell on the 16th February 1883, at Alf ianello, in the District of Verolannova, in the Province of Brescia, Italy.
By WALTER FLIGHT, D.Sc., F.G.S. Communicated by Professor G. G. Stokes, Sec. RS. Received May 17, 1883.
I gather from a short preliminary notice, which has been sent by M. Denza to Professor Daubree, and has been published in a recent number of the ” Comptes Rendus,” a few particulars respecting the fall of this stone, and its general appearance. The fall took place, with a loud detonation, at 2.55 P.M. on the day above mentioned; it was heard in the neighboring provinces of Cremona, Verona, Mantua, Piacenza, and Parma. In Alfianello it is described as épouvantable (a French adjective meaning appalling or dreadful). It descended from N.N.E. to S.S.W., at a distance of about 150 metres from a peasant, who fell fainting to the ground; telegraphic wires were set in motion, and the windows were shaken. It struck the ground about 300 metres south-west of Alfianello, in a field on an estate called Frosera, penetrating the soil, in the same direction as it passed through the air, from east to west, to a depth of about 1 metre, the path through the soil being about 1.50 metre. When taken out of the ground it was still a little warm. It fell complete, but was at once broken to pieces by the farmer of the estate. The stone is oval in form, and somewhat flattened in the centre, the lower part being larger and convex, like a kettle, the upper part being truncated. The surface is covered with the usual black crust, and strewn with little cavities, now met with as individuals, now in groups, and in the eye of some people bearing a resemblance to the impression of a hand or the foot of a she-goat. The stone weighs about 200 kilos. In structure this meteorite belongs to the group Sporadosideres oligosideres, and resembles Anmalite, being almost identical with the meteorite of New Concord, Ohio.
Except for the megachondrule, this region of Alfianello matrix could be considered a random snapshot generalizable to all Alfianello material.
The more time you spend looking, the more you will see. But don’t forget that the picture above represents only about five centimeters across.
While the arrival of Alfianello was a major impact for the year 1883, it was not the greatest. That honor goes to the famous eruption of Krakatoa volcano in August. There are many reports that up to a year after the eruption human skeletons floated across the Indian Ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice only to wash up on the east coast of Africa. Just imagine how that would be explained! It would make the fall of a large hot stinky rock from space seem odd, but not terribly unusual.
Until next time… The Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. [email protected]
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2010 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show by Jim Tobin
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Another Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is in the history book. What an exciting trip it was for Paul and I. We took an extra day this year and it made a big difference in the way the week went. It was a little more relaxed and we had a chance to find a few more great items that we might otherwise have missed.
We got into town about 1 pm on Wednesday and headed straight away to find meteorites at a secret location off the beaten path that we hit each year.. We found the meteorites and some great Moldavite too. In less than one hour, two of the items on our “really want list” were checked off. We stopped briefly at the former Inn Suites and saw some people. Then it was off to the hotel to check in and get some lunch. The night was likely to run late with the screening of Meteorite Men top of the list of places to be. So having had our hotel room given away once many years ago we try to check in before night time activities.
Back on the road about mid afternoon we were back looking at meteorites around town. I had a short list of items I was personally looking for. Of course there are always many other meteorites to see that I find interesting. Almahata Sitta the meteorite fall that had been tracked from space to the ground a few months ago was one I really wanted to check out. Anne Black had delightful pieces in her room of this unique meteorite. Not only is it the only meteorite that was a tracked asteroid before breaking up in our atmosphere and spreading itself across the ground. But it turned out to be an unusual type. Polymict Ureilites are about as rare as ones tracked before falling.
Anne Black and Geoff Notkin have shared a room at the show for the last few years and while there one of our early visits Geoff generously presented Paul and I with Aerolite Meteorite ball caps. This will be a treasured memento which I will also wear with pride. There was a tremendous variety and beautiful presentation of meteorites in their room. It is just a great place to hang around. For very soon any one you are looking to find will appear. I think by the end of the week I had only failed to see one or two people on my “people list”.
I had been looking for Nerft one of only four meteorites from Latvia for a few years. I knew that Moritz had some last year that I had missed And there it was in Mike Farmer’s roomthis year. So after getting it I am just one meteorite away from completing Latvia. We had some fun getting a 1 kilo of small Gaos from Mike. Nothing beats sitting on a comfortable couch and picking through bags of meteorites. It is not as much fun now to go home and have to clean them up a little. After 50 years they are showing a rusty color on the surface. But, it mostly disappears with some tooth brushing.
I have had a “probably never get” list with a few meteorites on it. Chassigny was top of that list. But,. I found some this year and it is now part of my collection. Who would have guessed. To be honest though; the fragment is certainly the smallest in my collection as well.
I have several individuals and slices of Allende. When I saw the one I got this year in Erich Haiderer’s room it was love at first sight. I think it is maybe the most CAI rich slice per square inch I have ever seen. We were showing what we had bought to Paul’s brother Tony and he said one of the Calcium Aluminum Inclusions looked like a ghost. I think he is right. Allende slice overflowing with different kinds of CAIs
The Ghost CAI I had a good year with finding oriented irons. I have slowed down buying them. I just get a couple each year. I found two very nice Sikhote Alins and two great Taza individuals. One of the SAs Paul named the Rat Poop meteorite and that name will stick I think
A remarkable Sikhote Alin which will always have a strange name
Two oriented Taza specimens
The two Taza meteorites I got from Bruno and Carine. While there they let me take a couple pictures of some other special items they had. The Fukang full slice was spectacular. The crater in the Sikhote Alin is quite remarkable as well. Full slice of the Fukang pallasite
A large crater in a Sikhote Alin individual
The first morning is always when we stop by Blaine Reed’s room and we did not deviate from tradition this year. I found a couple pieces there, but the fun is always getting to talk to him and hear his opinions on the meteorite world. One of the other rooms at his hotel had some stones last year and I got a couple. This year we swung by there to see if he had any meteorites again. Well he did. He had the same three stones I had left behind last year. Two that were very questionable as being real and one that I had not gotten in ‘09. So you know the next part. I got it this year. Now he just has the two interesting maybe or maybe not stones. I guess I can look at them again next year. The business had bought a big batch of stuff and we needed to send it home. A stop by a shipping booth got that big load of iron and stone off our minds. We don’t like to leave anything in the rental car so it gets tough to carry everything with us.
Wednesday night was the screening of another episode of the Meteorite Men Science Channel series. It was great to gather together as a large group of meteorite enthusiasts and watch it together. The commercial breaks were certainly more fun then at home with Geoff and Steve entertaining us during those times of advertisements. Having arrived just that afternoon it was also the first occasion to see many of our friends. What a wonderful evening of fun.
In fact every evening of the trip this year had some event for us to attend. Thursday was the IMCA dinner. The Meteorite Exchange had never attended before. We had gone out for dinner as a small group of friend in years past. I think we will enjoy many more IMCA dinners in the future. It was also a nice opportunity to make new friends and reconnect with friends we had not seen in a while. On Friday night the Birthday Bash for Geoff and Steve brought around another chance to have Pizza. The fire dancers were a hit I think.
This year’s Harvey Awards were given out to a very deserving group of recipients. And Geoff favored the crowd with some songs after the regular program ended. A spectacular evening as always.
Saturday night is Michael Blood’s Meteorite Auction. Unfortunately I can not comment on it. For the first time ever I missed it. I understand from the things I have read that it finished up early and went off well. We had an absentee bid in and won the item. So Paul and I were happy to hear that. We spent a very wonderful evening out to dinner with two members of Paul’s family who had driven over from Phoenix. Sorry to say this Michael, but I don’t think either of us missed going to the auction. We were having so much fun, laughing, tell and hearing stories that it was actually 45 minutes after the Outback closed before we noticed we were the only people there (and that they were cleaning up). We had left a nice tip, but it was really nice of them to not throw us out.
Sunday morning there was really only time to make a fast pass through the Inn Suites to say some goodbyes and settle up some bills. I needed to pay Anne Black for several pieces. Then it was off to the Airport by way of a gas station. $5 a gallon if we don’t fill the tank. I actually got turned around and messed up a couple times driving this trip. Maybe once a year is not enough time to spend in Tucson. Especially with so many friend living there now.
We found what we had wanted to get for the business, we saw almost everyone we hoped to see. We met many new people we had only known from emailing. I found some nice pieces for my collection. As Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows go this may have been the best so far.
A beautiful slice of Monze
A very interesting Howardite slice Ash Creek
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Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood
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This Month’s Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood
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The Arizona Meteorite Exhibition (2010) by Robert Verish
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The f irst-ever LPL event was well-attended. Hopef ully there will be more Exhibitions in the f uture.
In my opinion the first-ever Arizona Meteorite Exhibition was a huge success. It was hosted by, and was the “kick-off” event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) located on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. It brought together Arizona meteorite finders, classifiers, researchers, and collections. The event featured exhibits of Arizona meteorites and meteorite collections, as well as, informative displays, lectures, and posters. The event was held in the Atrium of the Kuiper Space Sciences Building.
Dolores Hill should be congratulated for a large part of the success of this event. She and her colleagues conducted a monumental effort to contact finders and classifiers and collectors of Arizona meteorites, and then to arrange to have these people and their meteorites brought to this event in order to mingle with the LPL researchers and to meet the general public. Just the making of labels and the setting up of the display cases and posters was a laborious task that wasn’t finally completed until just minutes before the doors opened at 6PM (January 30th).
Postcard from Exhibition is now a “collectible”
Although this Exhibition was widely publicized before the event (evidenced by how well-attended it was), I found there was only sparse reporting on the Internet after the Exhibition. It may be a result of the Tucson Show following immediately on the heels of the Exhibition. But the few people that did report on the Exhibition did such a fine job of giving a genuine portrayal of the event, that I am going to depart from my usual article layout and, instead, will have my “References:” section immediately precede my image gallery.
I know that, speaking for myself, there was a very short period of transition-time from the Exhibition to the Tucson Show. So short, in fact, that I wasn’t able to pick-up from Dolores Hill the meteorites that I had loaned for the Exhibition display until after the Tucson Show!
By the way, the meteorites from my collection that I loaned for display were:
Bluebird
Franconia – the first one, from which the type specimen was classified.
Gold Basin (L6) – a.k.a.,”Hualapai Wash 010″
Red Dry Lake 002 through 009
Sacramento Wash 002 – from the classified stone (from which the type specimen was obrtained).
Warm Springs Wilderness – an endcut from the classified stone (from which the type specimen was obrtained).
Willcox Playa 002
Willcox Playa 004
Willcox Playa 005
Willcox Playa 006
Willcox Playa 007
Due to time constraints and the size of some of the specimens, not all of my meteorites got to be displayed. The following images are of those specimens that didn’t get to be displayed:
Bluebird (L6):
“Hualapai Wash 010″: Willcox Playa 004 (L6 S4 W2):
Willcox Playa 005 (H5):
Willcox Playa 006 (H6): Willcox Playa 007 (L6 S2 W1):
Will there be other Arizona Meteorite Exhibitions in the Future?
I can only hope so. But, I asked Dolores Hill this same question, and she pointed out that this was all part of a 50th anniversary celebration for the LPL and she sincerely hopes that it won’t be another 50 years before the next Exhibition, but she hopes that whoever runs the next event that they have a less arduous job getting it organized. Possibly using another venue, there could be a future Exhibition sooner. Maybe hold it at ASU? But given the rate of increase in the number of AZ meteorite finds being made, we may need to hold the next Exhibition at the Convention Center!
Even if it has to be held elsewhere, I do hope that there will be more Arizona Meteorite Exhibitions in the near future.
References:
Post by “Keith V.” to the Open-Subscriber” regarding his images about the Arizona Meteorite Exhibition are now uploaded.
Link to the “ArizonaViking” Yahoo-flikr website showing his images from the: Arizona Meteorite Exhibition – January 30, 2010 Link to Rubin Garcia’s YouTube video of the: 2010 Arizona Meteorite Exhibition
Announcement of Arizona Meteorite Exhibition (in a.PDF file) from, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, as posted on Meteorite-Times.com – December 2009.
Appearance of Arizona Meteorite Exhibition in, LPL Calendar, on University of Arizona web site.
Post by “SkyLook123″ about Arizona Meteorite Exhibition in Cloudy Nights, Telescope Review, titled “January 30 Kuiper Space Sciences Anniversary Event “.
Bob’s Findings – article titled, Tucson Show 2009, in Meteorite-Times.com – February 2009.
Bob’s Findings – article titled, Willcox Playa 005, WP 006, and WP 007 – Image Gallery, in Meteorite-Times.com – March 2005.
Gallery of Images – Bob’s Findings Article for February 2010 2010 Arizona Meteorite Exhibition The event was held in the Atrium of the Kuiper Space Sciences Building.
Arizona Keith did a fine job of recording this event with his digital camera. As you can see in the above image, he was “at the ready” as always. Registration for the Exhibition at the front door.
Dick Pugh and Melinda Hutson form Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory (CML), and Dolores Hill (LPL- UA)
CML poster presented at the Exhibition Another CML poster presented at the Exhibition
Lectures during the Exhibition as part of the LPL Symposium
T-shirts with the Map of Arizona Meteorites were on sale. Another poster on display at the Exhibition Arizona meteorites on display!
One of many cases of AZ meteorites displayed at the Exhibition
My previous articles can be found *HERE*
For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser
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IMCA Insights – February 2010 by IMCA TEAM
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Fourth Annual IMCA Dinner in Tucson by Maria Haas
This was the fourth time we hosted an official IMCA dinner in Tucson during the show. Each year we have gotten a few more attendees than the year prior so I expected around 35 people. It is my pleasure to tell you we had 63 people at the dinner this year!
La Fuente Mexican Restaurant glowing in the moonlight (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
From background left clockwise: New Member Erik Christensen, Me, Michael Blood, Linton Rohr, Mark Murphy, Mohammad Hmani, Bob Falls, Greg Hupe, Angel Blood (Photo by Keith Vasquez) In background: Svend Buhl, Dave Gheesling, Mr. and Mrs. Don Hurkot, Foreground: Anne Black, Dr. Art Ehlmann and former student Denise, Countess and Count Deiro, Robert Boedecker II and guest, Carol Falls, Bob Falls’ niece, Bob Falls and our server who did such a nice job taking care of all of us (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
I'm not sure what I'm doing in this picture but Anne Black (left) looks normal enough for the both of us. (Photo by Keith Vasquez) Bob Falls, Geoff Notkin, Larry Lebofsky, Dr. Art Ehlmann and former student Denise, Countess Deiro. Background: Jim Tobin, Bob Holmes, Don Edwards, Dr. Jim Shorten, Mohammad Hmami, Anne Black, and Michael Blood in his famous tie-died Shirt (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Don Edwards, Fredrick Stephan, Bob Holmes, Doug Dawn (Photo by Leigh Anne Del Ray)
New Member Eric Christensen and his sister had their own table (Photo by Keith Vasquez) Erik Krieder (Twink's Guest), Dolores Hill's beautiful smile, Rik Hill, Count Deiro Background: Dr. Jim Shorten, Richard Kowalski (Discoverer of TC3/Alhamatta Sitta!), Sarah Cole, Keith Vasquez's friend Orlando, Geoff Notkin, Mark Bowling and “Ditto” (A great meteorite hunter friend of several party guests) (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Geoff Notkin and Jose Gutierrez (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Both Meteorite Men, Steve Arnold and Geoff Notkin, and Me (Photo by Keith Vasquez) Geoff Notkin, Leigh Anne DelRay, and Me (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Linton Rohr, Leigh Anne DelRay, David (Leigh Anne's boyfriend), Mohammad Hmani, Greg Hupe, Angel Blood (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Jim Tobin, Paul Harris and Larry Lebofsky (Photo by Keith Vasquez) Erich Haiderer, Rik Hill, Angel Blood, Erik Christensen and his sister, Michael Blood, Linton Rohr, Mike Murphy (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Aw, aren't they cute! Mr. and Mrs. Steve Arnold Left from background: Sarah Cole, Orlando (Keith Vasquez's Guest), Dolores and Rik Hill (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Steve Arnold, Qynne Arnold, Twink Monrad, Jim Tobin, Larry Lebofsky, Gary Fujihara, Erik Krieder (Twink's Guest), Dolores and Rik Hill (Photo by Keith Vasquez) Here's a great picture! Svend Buhl, Paul Harris, Anne Black (Photo by Keith Vasquez)
Even with Fredrick Stephan having donated three of our five door prizes, it didn’t feel like enough for that many people so Dolores Hills graciously donated three ASU t-shirts to help. This picture is of everybody waiting for Richard Kowalski to pick their name: Gary Fujihara, Don Edwards, Rob Matson, Don Hurkot, Mrs. Hurkot, Robert Boedecker II and Mrs. Boedecker, Linton Rohr, Erik Christensen’s Sister, Mark Murphy, Carol, Bob’s Neice, Bob Falls, Rik Hill, Dolores Hill, Leigh Anne Delray, Richard Kowalski, Sarah Cole and in the middle poised to jump: Eduardo Jawerbaum!
The door prize winners were: Bob Falls, Greg Hupe, Robert Boedecker II, Erik Krieder, Orlando (Keith’s Friend), Oscar (Jose’s future son-in-law), Mohammed Hmani, and Eduardo Jawerbaum. We had technical difficulties with some photos and several guests are not pictured but they aren’t forgotten. Thanks to everyone who attended and was shown in a photo plus Dorothy Norton, Dave Mouat, Mike Jensen, Bill Jensen, Russ Finney, and last but not least, Keith Vasquez, our photographer. A few people were not able to attend but they were missed: Jim Strope, Paul and Wendy Swartz, Karl Aston and his son, Bob Cucciara and Larry Sloan.
The next two pictures have nothing to do with the dinner but are provided for your pleasure. Who’d have thought we’d have two fine auctioneers at the Blood Auction!?!
Count Deiro (top) did a fine job at Michael Blood's (below) podium - both assisted by Leigh Anne DelRay (both photos by Russ Finney)
I look forward to meeting more of you and if you are traveling to the Tucson show in 2011, it would be our pleasure if joined us for dinner. All are welcome.
Maria Haas Treasurer to the Stars
• IMCA Home Page • IMCA Code of Ethics • IMCA Member List • Join IMCA • IMCA Meteorite Info
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Armored Chondrules by John Kashuba
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Chuck,
Thank you for slicing up a few of my NWA 869s for me. Per our deal I’m sending half the slices back to you. You say you’re going to give them away to kids but you ought to keep that one with the armored chondrules to show around. I put it in a membrane box to keep it separate.
Armored chondrules aren’t rare but they still seem special. Maybe it’s the name. Armored. Sounds substantial. That shiny ring we see around sliced chondrules is a section through a metal-sulfide shell that more or less coats the chondrule. One explanation for how these came into being is that during chondrule formation metal-sulfide droplets, whatever their origin, separated from the silicate melt and gathered on the surface of solidifying chondrules – dubbed “expelled” coatings. Another suggestion is that MS vaporized during chondrule melting and then deposited on chondrule surfaces during cooling – “recondensed” coatings. [Summarized by Vogel et al. (2004) in MAPS.] Another scenario invokes impact mobilization of MS, fragmentation of the parent body and subsequent reaccretion – an impact and reaccumulation process. [Kojima et al. (2003) in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.]
Here are some pictures.
- John
My first. CR2s weren’t cheap before the great desert bonanza took hold. But when Rob Elliott said those magic words, Armored Chondrules, I had to have it. $324 per gram. Give your NWA 869 a hug tonight. Acfer 209 CR2. Years later I got this LL3 on eBay for about three bucks per gram. Neat stuff. Adrar Madet 002 LL3 S4, W2.
A bull’s eye. DaG 1040 CV3. A metal shell with additional material around it. DaG 1040 CV3.
Same, with the addition of transmitted cross polarized light. Incident light and transmitted XPL. NWA 801 CR2.
Shişr 033 CR2 There’s a lot going on here. Is that an armored bleb of metal?
Yes, and, not surprisingly, a layered bleb. Probably a CR2. NWA 801 CR2, my favorite.
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Tracy Latimer by Editor
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This feature is devoted each month to one of the personalities within the meteorite community. This month we are delighted to share an interview we had with Tracy Latimer.
Myself and my husband with a few of our toys in the back yard.
Meteorite-Times (MT) What or who got you interested in meteorites and how old were you when you got your first meteorite?
Tracy Latimer (TL) I started collecting about a decade ago. I was looking for unique Christmas gifts online, and having been recently introduced to ebay, on a whim typed in ‘meteorites’. I was astonished to find that they were available for the public to buy. I bought all my friends tiny meteorite samples for Christmas that year, and spawned my own interest at the same time.
(MT) What was your first meteorite?
(TL) I bought a bunch at approximately the same time; the one I remember from that first batch is a skeletal Imilac, with all the olivine weathered away.
(MT) Do you still have it?
(TL) Yes.
(MT) Do you have special areas of interest that you focus on in regards to meteorites (thin sections, photography, chemistry, age dating.. etc)?
(TL) Ideally I’d like pieces from every unique fall or find, but that just isn’t in the budget. I have a few gaps, but I’ve been working on getting a representative piece from every petrologic grade and type. Recently I’ve been concentrating on lower petrologic types, the L3s and LL3s; I find them aesthetically pleasing. I also find it hard to turn down nice pallasites, which are as beautiful as stained glass windows; I wish I had more unique specimens. (MT) Does your Family share in your interest in meteorites?
(TL) The overall reaction seems to be “Well, isn’t that fascinating,” and I try not to bore them too much with meteorite trivia! My parents recall taking me to Meteor Crater as a young child, and they say that at age 5 I knew exactly what caused the crater. My husband supports my enthusiasm, although he is long-suffering.
(MT) Do you have any special approaches to collecting? (Type collection, only stones, only irons, only by aesthetics, etc. or any and all that you like.)
(TL) Most of my meteorites are micro specimens, as my display area is small; I have only a couple dozen pieces that are too large to fit in a 1×1 gem jar. Other than that, anything is fair game, although I’m trying for at least one of each specimen type.
A very dated picture of some of my collection; it has since more than doubled in size.
(MT) Do you mind saying how many locations your collection represents?
(TL) I am lucky enough to have specimens from all 7 continents, and more than 300 unique falls or finds.
(MT) Is your collection displayed or kept in a dry box or both?
(TL) Most of my meteorites are displayed in shadowboxes, and a couple of converted typesetting drawers, in individual gem boxes.
(MT) In what ways do you use your computer for meteorites?
(TL) If it weren’t for my computer, I doubt I would have ever gotten started collecting! My computer lets me look at collections from around the world, find out what is new in the world of meteorites, and converse with fellow collectors, dealers and scientists. I also use a spreadsheet to keep track of my collection, and make labels for my display.
(MT) Do you ever hunt for meteorites?
(TL) I’d love to participate in a hunt sometime, but I’d have to go some distance to search a strewnfield. The rocks in Hawaii closely resemble meteorites, so visual inspection is not too useful; the iron content is even high enough to fool a metal detector looking for meteorites. Couple that with a climate that is hard on metal, and I wouldn’t have much luck here!
(MT) What is your favorite meteorite in your collection? (TL) I have several I like. I am very taken with the weird crystalline structure of Itqiy. I own a small piece of Honolulu, one of two meteorites that fell in my state. Lunar and Martian planetaries are also favorites. And I have several wafer thin slices of Esquel, and other pallasites.
(MT) What is your favorite overall if it is not the one above?
(TL) Any of my thin sliced pallasites: Quinjingue, Imilac, Pallasovka, Krasnojarsk, Esquel…
(MT) What makes these of special interest?
(TL) I find them beautiful, aside from the obvious scientific interest.
(MT) What meteorites are currently on your wish list?
(TL) Any pallasites I don’t have now! I’d love to be able to afford a palm-sized slice of translucent Esquel, but don’t have that type of free cash.
(MT) What methods have been most successful in building your collection? (Buying at shows, from dealers by mail, auctions on the web, trading… etc)
(TL) I’ve only been able to attend one show, but came away from it wishing I could go to more. Most of my purchases have been from ebay, although as I have become more discriminating, if I want a particular meteorite I have more luck looking at individual dealers’ stock. Sometimes I will sell off a smaller piece if I upgrade, but since I concentrate on small pieces to begin with, I don’t get to do much trading.
On a visit to the British Natural History Museum; Dr. Caroline Smith is kindly allowing me to look at some of the undisplayed meteorite collection.
(MT) Do you also collect related materials like impact glasses, breccias, melts, tektites, shocked fossils, native iron rocks etc?
(TL) Yes; several years back I got a selection of impact breccia and glass from Germany in exchange for some spare impactites, and have occasionally bought tektites and other impact related material. I particularly like a translucent piece of LDG I own.
(MT) Do you prepare any of your own specimens? (cut, polish, etch, etc.)
(TL) No; that’s one aspect I’ve never gotten into. The only preparation I do is to try to kill lawrencite disease wherever it strikes.
(MT) Have you had to take any special measures to protect them from the environment?
(TL) All but 2 or 3 of my meteorites are stored in gem jars, membrane boxes, or Riker mounts. This seems to protect them from the worst ravages of our salt air, although the atmosphere here has been hard on my etched irons; I’ve declared a moratorium on buying irons unless I have a nearly foolproof way of protecting them.
(TL) I am a big advocate of getting kids interested in science, and meteorites are a good tangible way to get them started. I’ve given several talks locally about meteorites to elementary and middle school students, and once they realize that the rock they are handing around came from outer space, they usually are fascinated and the questions fly. I keep some small specimens of unclassified NWA meteorites handy to give out to interested kids, and have one on my desk at work. Recently I loaned out some of my lunar meteorites to a geologist at the UH Institute for Astronomy for comparison studies on moon dust from the Apollo missions.
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Meteorite Calendar – February 2010 by Anne Black
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Birthday Meteorites by Michael Johnson
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Birthday Meteorites
Upper left is a 4.02 gram partially crusted part slice of Utrecht. This is an L6 vnd. meteorite that fell June 2, 1843 in Utrecht, Netherlands. TKW for this meteorite is 9.7 kgs. and was acquired from Moritz Karl.
Upper right is a 9.6 gram part slice of Meester-Cornelis. This is an H5 meteorite that fell June 2, 1915 in Java, Indonesia. TKW for this meteorite is 24.75 kgs. and was acquired from the Jay Piatek collection.
Shown below is a 1.75 crusted fragment of Buschhof. This is an L5 vnd. meteorite that fell June 2, 1863 in Zemgale, Latvia. TKW for this meteorite is 5 kgs. and was acquired from Dave Gheesling through Mike Bandli.
Thanks to all that made it possible for me to collect these rare birthday meteorites of mine!
© Dave Schultz
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