What do you collect? - Page 8 - Off Topic

Brian · 09-18-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarahdactyl

pictures please

Allende (This rock predates our own sun. It is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old and is among the oldest things you can touch.) It is classified a carbonaceous chondrite (stone):

Gao/Guenie, H5 Chondrite, A nice stony-iron:

Iron from Odessa, Texas:

Brian · 09-18-2010, 07:35 AM

Tatahouine fragment, believed to originate from the asteroid Vesta:

Moldavite sample - meteorite impact glass:

I've got a bunch more, just no images handy.

havasu · 09-18-2010, 07:58 AM

That's pretty interesting! I wonder how many get duped buying what they believe is space matter when in fact is just rocks? Is there a way to test them?

Brian · 09-18-2010, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by havasu

That's pretty interesting! I wonder how many get duped buying what they believe is space matter when in fact is just rocks? Is there a way to test them?

Yes, the University of Arizona does testing for a fee. They will take a sample, run it through a spectrometer and analyze the compounds. The pictures don't really do them justice: when you know what to look for, it's pretty easy to distinguish between an unremarkable rock and space junk most of the time. But it is possible to mistake slag or other terrestrial rocks for meteorites.

Many samples I have are slices showing Widmanstatten patterns which are unique to meteorites. Stony-irons and pallasites are pretty unique, too.

havasu · 09-18-2010, 08:19 AM

I use to collect rocks and while shopping in some remote town, I found a piece of rock which was advertised as a piece of a meteorite and bought it, but I'm not sure if I was duped or not.