It is near the end of the year and that is a time of reflection. I cut a great many meteorites this year. I cut what I seriously thought would be the largest lunar I would ever handle or certainly cut. It was a 1.7 kg stone and I cut beautiful thin slices. Since then many much larger have been
A newsletter for unclassified meteorites found in the USA. More good news to share with you regarding recent efforts at finding a solution to the problem of Ordinary Chondrite (OC) finds found here in the U.S.A. going unreported, and undocumented, and unclassified. We have found some university graduate students willing to volunteer as classifiers-in-training, and who are very willing to
Serra de Magé is an unbrecciated cumulate eucrite. It has a high feldspar content for a eucrite, ~65-70 volume %. The feldspar is anorthite. Pyroxene is orthopyroxene with often complex exsolution lamellae of augite sometimes described as appearing wormlike. Sample is 13mm wide. Cross-polarized light (XPL). Some opaques are visible. Note bits of fusion crust along the sloping upper edge.
In this edition we were supposed to continue our orderly survey of the classic morphologies of the Australasian tektite strewn field, next moving on to the spectacular world of Australites. There has been a change of plans. We must revisit the irregular Philippinites that I have (very informally) termed “Amagorphians”*. In the last column, I declined to speculate on the
(Part two(b) of three): Philippinite Amagorphians Revisited Read Post »
*ISAC Institute, CNR Research Area, via Gobetti 101, 40126 Bologna, Italy, g.cevolani@isac.cnr.it www.facebook.com/cevolani45 CAIs or Calcium-Aluminum-rich inclusions, roughly millimeter-to-centimeter in size, are the oldest objects in the solar system, discovered in the most ancient meteorites. These inclusions are believed to have formed very early in the evolution of the solar system either as solid condensates or as molten droplets. Relatively to
CAIs in FERMO: an unusual aspect for ordinary chondrites Read Post »
Almahata Sitta: Happy Birthday Almahata Sitta!! Almahata Sitta is 10 years old! It was the first meteorite to be identified as such before it even hit the ground. The story has been told many times but it is worth repeating. On the night of October 6, 2008, Richard Kowalski was the Catalina Sky Survey astronomer on duty under the
Derek Sears informed us about two newly published books available on Amazon. Please click on the titles or book covers to be taken to their respective ordering page on Amazon. Shedding Light: The Luminescence Glow of Meteorites and Moon-rocks Shedding Light is the result of 30 years of research by a team of about fourteen scientists. This book consists of
Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hosts The Meteorite Picture of the Day. Sahara 99062 H5 14.6 grams contributed by Twink Monrad, IMCA 9454
