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By admin, March 5, 2010 2:00 am

On March 5th, 1960, the Gao-Guenie meteorite fell in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta).  For many years, “Gao” and “Guenie” were thought to be two separate meteorite falls.  This confusion continued for many years, until research in the 1990’s confirmed that Gao/Guenie meteorites were in fact from a single fall.

Gao-Guenie is classified as a H5 ordinary chondrite.  It’s a relatively inexpensive meteorite, considering that it’s a witnessed fall from a country without many meteorites.  At the moment, I don’t have any of this meteorite for sale myself.  But, to mark this occasion, here are some photos of an impressive Gao-Guenie meteorite I sold last year:

 

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By admin, September 22, 2009 10:42 pm

Fragment of the Murchison meteorite

Alright, I realize that I’m about a week early on this one.  This is an important meteorite, though – so let’s begin.  It’s the 40th anniversary of the Murchison meteorite fall!

On September 28th, 1969, the Murchison meteorite fell in Victoria, Australia.  It had already been a big year for meteorites, thanks to the Allende meteorite fall in Chihuahua, Mexico.  These two carbonaceous chondrites are regarded as two of the most important meteorite falls of the 20th century – and rightfully so.

Many people heard and saw the Murchison meteorite fall.  Reports indicate that a fireball and cloud of smoke were seen, followed by a strange scent of alcohol.  Pieces of the meteorite rained down over an area of 5 square miles, including one piece which crashed through the roof of a barn and landed in hay.

What really makes the Murchison meteorite interesting is its composition.  Look up Murchison online, and you’ll find a wealth of information about its water content and famous amino acids.  Many of these amino acids are the building blocks of proteins found in life on Earth.  Equally intriguing, though, are the 50+ amino acids found in Murchison which have no terrestrial origin.

Even today, research of the Murchison meteorite continues to reveal new information about our solar system.  In 2008, a team of researchers identified the presence of purine and pyrimidine nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite.  As the science of astrobiology continues to advance, Murchison will surely remain a key player.

Happy birthday, Murchison!

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By admin, August 30, 2009 2:30 am

The fall of the Ochansk meteorite

On August 30th, 1887, a shower of stones fell on the village of Tabory, near Ochansk in Russia.  It was the middle of the day, so many people were outside to witness the fireball.  With a total known weight of 500kg, it was Russia’s largest witnessed meteorite fall at the time.  It held that record for 60 years, until the fall of Sikhote-Alin in 1947.

Ochansk might not be as well known as Sikhote-Alin, but it is an interesting meteorite nonetheless.  It is a very fresh H4 chondrite with lots of metal.  It is somewhat friable, so pieces should be handled with care to prevent crumbling.  For this reason, many slices are left unpolished.

My meteorite collection has one small piece of Ochansk.  More photos of Ochansk meteorites can be seen here (text is in Russian).

I don’t have any Ochansk for sale at the moment, but pieces show up on eBay from time to time.  Market price for this one is $10-20/g, so small pieces are very affordable for collectors. Much of the Ochansk material available to collectors was acquired by meteorite dealer Michael Farmer from a Russian museum about 10 years ago. You can visit his Ochansk sale page here.

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By admin, August 2, 2009 4:35 pm

This week marks the 11th anniversary of the fall of the Zag meteorite.  The Meteoritical Bulletin entry for Zag says:

Zag

Western Sahara or Morocco
Fell 1998 August 4 or 5
Ordinary chondrite (H3-6)

A meteorite fall was witnessed on a mountain in the vicinity of Zag, Morocco. About 175 kg have been sold by local people to dealers and collectors under the names Zag, Sagd, and Tan-Tan.  Classifica­tion and mineralogy (A. Bischoff and D. Weber, Mün): a regolith breccia (pers. comm., R. Wieler, ETH); olivine, Fa_1.6–30.0, with peak at Fa₁₉; pyroxene, Fs_3.3–26.6 with peak at Fs₁₇; shock stage, S3; weathering grade, W0/1.  Specimens: 26.6 kg, JNMC; type specimens, ETH and Mün.

This was around the time when I was first getting interested in meteorites.  It’s hard to believe it’s been 11 years since Zag!  I don’t have many photos to share on this occasion, because my collection only has one small Zag piece at the moment.  Here it is, though:

1.36g Zag Meteorite

Zag is well known for being the second meteorite (after Monahans 1998) found to contain water-bearing salt crystals.  This discovery created a real buzz in the meteorite community back in 2000.  Here are links to two of the original press releases:

• Water-bearing salt crystals come from dawn of solar system
• Deep Space Brine

As you can see, it’s a very interesting meteorite.  I don’t have any Zag meteorites for sale right now, but I hope to get some more in the future.