An Article In
Meteorite-Times Magazine
by Tom Phillips
Looking At Estherville Every Way I Can
Estherville, Iowa Mesosiderite 3A/4A. This meteorite fell May 10, 1879.
I had given up long ago on getting any good Xpol thin section shots of a Meso. They just were not turning out that good. That is until Jeff Hodges sent me his slide. I couldn't stop. I took hundreds of images so picking which to share is difficult. Paul will be posting these and many more to my Micrograph Gallery so take a look there as well.
This first set was taken at a magnification of 160X.
Next step is 400X. This is where picking the best started to get hard so I put in a few extra (we don't need to tell Paul)!
I had never imaged a Meso at this magnification before. I guess my slides were just not good enough! This set is at 760X.
And last (I had to give it a try) 345X NEO. This is a covered thin section and I usually reserve incident (reflected) light work for polished (uncovered) thin sections. I have been experimenting with setting up my Neophot with a Glan-Thompson style polarizer. These are made of mined calcite and their extinction is near total. This allows me to better control the glare and take a reflected light image through a cover glass. The bounce back light off the slide it's self gives some Xpol color. I was trying to capture the details of opaque material. After all, it is a Mesosiderite and there is plenty.
Tom Phillips can be reached by email at:
STARSANDSCOPES@aol.com
The Tom Phillips Microscopic Meteorite Photography and Gallery
