Reflecting back on the past 10 years since we first published Meteorite, there have been many notable changes in the meteorite-collecting environment. In 1997 our cover featured a recent photo of Dar al Gani 262, only the second lunar meteorite to be found outside Antarctica (the other one being Calcalong Creek found by Bob Haag). In subsequent years, other lunar material came on to the marketplace but you needed to mortgage the house in order to get some. Or you could buy a small speck along with a magnifying glass to see it. The same was true for martian meteorites where your choice was pretty much confined to Zagami or Nakhla.
But in recent times, one can obtain beautiful thin slices with lots of visual impact of all manner of lunar and martian meteorites without selling off the wife and kids. Thank you Oman!
The Sahara has also been kind to us in other regards. Ten years ago, meteorites like the HED’s and other exotic types were very thin on the ground (literally). But now there is a wide range of choices for these types of meteorites and even such rarities as acapulcoites, ureilites, or rumurutiites. And then of course there is the plethora of ordinary chondrites that are now sold by the kilo and have allowed many people for the first time to get a complete individual larger than a micromount. These OC’s often make very fascinating thin sections, which is another realm of investigation that has been greatly opened up to the collector in the past few years.
Another major change in the meteorite-collecting environment is the number of books now available. Our very first issue had a book review of Richard Norton’s Rocks from Space, and since then we have reviewed numerous new books about meteorites at varying technical levels and in various languages too.
So all in all, the best time to be a meteorite collector is the present. Enjoy!
Joel Schiff
Editor – Meteorite magazine
