Meteorite

[AndyC]

I felt like owning something that came from off this world, so I ordered this offa eBay:

https://i.imgur.com/Q8R6J55.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IG44MIu.jpg

Nickel-iron with olivine crystals, categorized as a "pallasite". This slice comes from a fragment of the "Sericho" meteorite that landed in Kenya:

https://meteorites.asu.edu/meteorites/sericho

[358429]

Really new and really old. How does it feel to hold?

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[AndyC]

Heavy and cold.

[358429]

Is it big or small?

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[AndyC]

It's only about 3" x 2-1/4" and around 1/8" thick.

[358429]

That's really cool it really is a slice of a meteorite!

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[358429]

If I had one of those I'd be doing weird stuff like checking its electrical resistance with the fluke multimeter[emoji3] and seeing if it changes when I touch it with a magnet.

Then I'd probably get the grand idea to see how it would look after a couple of hours with a buffing wheel[emoji1787]

I hope you're not offended, the only meteorites I have ever seen or handled outside of a museum were very small nickel iron cubes, and little stony pebbles.



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[AndyC]

Heck not at all - I've never had one before so I totally get it :) Many people etch them with acids to show the "Widmanstatten pattern (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c9/7c/c9/c97cc9f61d40082d26e1eb2d5787db5e.jpg)", which is really neat.

They're all over eBay - go have a look and see what you could afford. I got this one from a Chinese seller for probably 1/3rd of what they cost locally, but it took almost 3 weeks to get here.

[DougGuy]

Put a light behind it!

[dannyd]

Hope it’s not like Joe Dirt’s meteor :)

[Triggerfinger]

Looks out of this world...

[pworley1]

Very nice.

[imashooter2]

Hope it’s not like Joe Dirt’s meteor :)

I didn’t see any peanuts. [smilie=l:

[8mmFan]

Do you suppose it’s actually real?

[AndyC]

Yep - be kinda silly and really tough to go to all this trouble for the little money I paid. Besides, these things aren't uncommon and if I really wanted I could etch it and look for the patterns in the metal, which don't occur on earth:


The formation of Ni-poor kamacite proceeds by diffusion of Ni in the solid alloy at temperatures between 700 and 450 °C, and can only take place during very slow cooling, about 100 to 10,000 °C/Myr, with total cooling times of 10 Myr or less. This explains why this structure cannot be reproduced in the laboratory..... nickel-iron crystals grow to lengths of some centimeters only when the solid metal cools down at an exceptionally slow rate (over several million years) - Myr = million years


Put a light behind it!
Heck yeah - I'm looking for a li'l LED with battery

[358429]

Is the rate of cooling so slow because the metal is very close to absolute zero when in the deep space?

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[AndyC]

I have no unearthly (*cough*) idea.

[DougGuy]

Is the rate of cooling so slow because the metal is very close to absolute zero when in the deep space?

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I don't think it was very cold at all wherever/whenever that thing was made. The formation of the quartz or whatever it is that isn't iron seems suspended with some degree of consistency, so that would lead me to believe that gravity was much less than it is on Earth, or the iron would be at one end and the quartz at the other. It would also appear to have formed as a large structure, that might have been violently destroyed sending fragments of it hurtling through space in all directions. It probably wouldn't have been a star, stars are made of gases that burn, any iron in a star would have been vaporized, so maybe it was a moon that crashed into a planet or a large asteroid hit it and made small meteorites who knows.. Or, maybe it got sucked into a black hole then imploded or exploded..

[Shawlerbrook]

Reminds me of the Jim Bowie movie with Alan Ladd where his knife was made from a meteorite.

[358429]

All that surrounds us, stars moon and planets, sometimes have fantastic physical properties. In theory I suppose, not proven by a core sample yet[emoji3]Stars can have liquid and solid metal cores, from elements we consider gasses like hydrogen and helium, forced into liquid or solid state due to tremendous pressure, strange things happening due to the incredible heat, pressure and electrical potential.

I have wondered since I was a boy that if it was possible to recover some sufficient amount of iron, chromium, nickel, some other elements as well, from a stars center, then would the physical properties of things made from this star metal be much stronger (knives, mechanical parts, guns, hulls for ships and spacecraft)?

Then things get wierder with neutron stars. All that is can be soo cool[emoji41]

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[PbHurler]

That is pretty darned cool

[lightman]

I have one that is about the size of my fist that I found at one of my arrowhead hunting spots.

[Acorn]

Is the rate of cooling so slow because the metal is very close to absolute zero when in the deep space?

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My WAG is that the cooling would be so slow because of the vacuum of space. Sort of a humongous
Yeti cooler.

[JimB..]

My WAG is that the cooling would be so slow because of the vacuum of space. Sort of a humongous
Yeti cooler.
This.
Space isn’t cold or hot really. A molten piece of metal would take a long time to cool sitting in a near perfect vacuum.

[Thumbcocker]

Reminds me of the Jim Bowie movie with Alan Ladd where his knife was made from a meteorite.

There was a dagger found in a Pharoah 's tomb (Tut I think) that was made from a meteorite. At the time it was made Egypt was not in the iron age.

[Gator 45/70]

There was a dagger found in a Pharoah 's tomb (Tut I think) that was made from a meteorite. At the time it was made Egypt was not in the iron age.

This https://allthatsinteresting.com/king-tut-dagger

[358429]

This.
Space isn’t cold or hot really. A molten piece of metal would take a long time to cool sitting in a near perfect vacuum.May I ask why it would take a long time to cool in a vacuum?

I find this idea fascinating. What inhibits the heat energy from leaving the hot metal? Does heat transfer energy the same way that sound does, where it needs a medium to transfer the energy?

I think it would cool and then remain cool until it is in the presence of another energy source which given the wide open void of space, may never happen.

How long would a microwaved potato wrapped in foil remain hot in outer space?[emoji3]

The Earth is in outer space I'm sure there is heat and material loss. But it is also bathed in the solar energy and gas jetting from our sun.

I've heard of quenching steel in dry ice or liquid nitrogen to realign the grain structure as part of a hardening process for making blade steel. I wonder what qualities a knife that could be forged perfectly and then kept at Absolute Zero for millions of years would have. Thor probably eats his steaks with such a knife[emoji41]

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[Markopolo]

i think you should melt it down and make boolits????? Met boolits sounds cool!!!!

[AndyC]

How about a couple of 1911s?

https://cabotguns.com/oak-collection/the-big-bang-pistol-set/

[358429]

How about a couple of 1911s?

https://cabotguns.com/oak-collection/the-big-bang-pistol-set/Was wondering when those crazy million of dollars pistols were going to get mentioned!

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[BJK]

<snip> It probably wouldn't have been a star, stars are made of gases that burn, any iron in a star would have been vaporized,..<snip>
Ummm, maybe not, not if I understand you correctly. All the heavy elements come from stars. It starts with hydrogen and immense gravity which produces nuclear "burning" and as the H2 fuses it morphs into other elements, which work their way up the periodic chart until iron is reached. At that point iron stops the fusion. Get enough of it at the stars core and yes an explosion occurs, but lots of stuff is blown out where it coalesces into more stars, planets and such. And other even heavier elements are made. So ultimately what you have in hand was part of a star at some time. The planet we live on and the air we breathe? All star stuff. But yes, it could also have been part of what coalesced from a star and never made it into a planet. The Oort cloud and the debris between Mars and Jupiter (I think it's between M&J) is composed of such material. Excuse me, my mistake, what you have in hand, should it have come from that leftover debris DID make it into a planet, ours. It just got found and turned into slabs. Becoming part of our planet just didn't happen during the major planet forming phase.

I'm not going to go into where the H2 came from. Other than to say that I do believe the hand of GOD is at work.

Having a piece of a meteor is pretty neat when you think about where it came from.

If you want to see stars that have exploded and ejected material do a search for "planetary nebula".

[Hossfly]

May I ask why it would take a long time to cool in a vacuum?

I find this idea fascinating. What inhibits the heat energy from leaving the hot metal? Does heat transfer energy the same way that sound does, where it needs a medium to transfer the energy?

I think it would cool and then remain cool until it is in the presence of another energy source which given the wide open void of space, may never happen.

How long would a microwaved potato wrapped in foil remain hot in outer space?[emoji3]

The Earth is in outer space I'm sure there is heat and material loss. But it is also bathed in the solar energy and gas jetting from our sun.

I've heard of quenching steel in dry ice or liquid nitrogen to realign the grain structure as part of a hardening process for making blade steel. I wonder what qualities a knife that could be forged perfectly and then kept at Absolute Zero for millions of years would have. Thor probably eats his steaks with such a knife[emoji41]

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I think a potato heated in anything and wrapped in foil, placed in a vacuum, would immediately boil out all water and therefore take all available heat energy with it.

[358429]

I had forgotten about the pressure difference somehow thank you for reminding me. [emoji1787]

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[JimB..]

I think a potato heated in anything and wrapped in foil, placed in a vacuum, would immediately boil out all water and therefore take all available heat energy with it.
I think so, converting the water to vapor would cool the potato.

When we think of cooling we really think of heat transfer from one object to another. The energy doesn’t just go away, it goes into something else. A hot cup of coffee warms the air around it until it reaches room temp. In space there is nothing around a meteor to take the heat away, so it stays hot.

[Butzbach]

Geez suddenly my little collection of petrified wood and "ringing"rocks gleaned from my river rock landscape material seems kinda puny!

Nice rock!

[AndyC]

King Tut's dagger is 'out of this world' (https://www.foxnews.com/science/king-tuts-dagger-is-out-of-this-world)

[MaryB]

there are a LOT of fake meteorites on ebay, Chinese seller is a huge red flag... when you sell 10,000 at $3 each... and your cost to manufacture is low...

[AndyC]

Granted, but I don't know how anyone could cook soft olivine crystals inside molten iron like a plum pudding.

The fakes on eBay are usually regular rocks, glass or slag from iron foundries - nothing like this at all. This one coming from China - yep, I am always anxious to see what arrives but in this case I'm satisfied it's legit, based on what I've seen of other Sericho samples.

[ulav8r]

I think so, converting the water to vapor would cool the potato.

When we think of cooling we really think of heat transfer from one object to another. The energy doesn’t just go away, it goes into something else. A hot cup of coffee warms the air around it until it reaches room temp. In space there is nothing around a meteor to take the heat away, so it stays hot.

Heat from an object leaves if by three possible ways, conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction and convection requires contact with a cooler substance. If the substance in contact is a solid conduction occurs, if it is a liquid or gas then convection occurs. In a vacuum heat is transferred by radiation, that is how we get warmer/hotter when standing in the sunshine. Conduction is what warms our feet when standing on hot pavement and convection is what causes air movement as in wind.

[fastdadio]

meteors are cool, no doubt, and I too would like to have one. Here's something else I think is very unique. The megladon.
https://www.fossilera.com/fossils-for-sale/fossil-megalodon-teeth
https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/megalodon

[sparky45]

Love the Avatar fastdadio...

[AndyC]

meteors are cool, no doubt, and I too would like to have one. Here's something else I think is very unique. The megladon.
https://www.fossilera.com/fossils-for-sale/fossil-megalodon-teeth
https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/megalodon
Neat!!

[fastdadio]

Love the Avatar fastdadio...

Thank you Sir.

[Idaho45guy]

Used to do some searching in the Arizona desert for meteorites with my metal detector. Never found one. Found lots of meteorwrongs, though.

Also found some cool petrified wood...

288933

If you love rocks, fossils, gems, meteorites, etc. then you have to make at least one trip to Quartzite, AZ for the annual gem show in January. Just an amazing selection of cool stuff at great prices.

You want giant dinosaur leg bones? They have them. Want millions of fossilized shark teeth? They have those, too...

288934

288935

[reloader28]

Reminds me of the Jim Bowie movie with Alan Ladd where his knife was made from a meteorite.

I'm pretty sure it was called The Iron Princess tho it could have been The Iron Maiden. Aint seen that show for 35 years. I couldnt find it on you tube but maybe someone better than me can find it

[waksupi]

I'm pretty sure it was called The Iron Princess tho it could have been The Iron Maiden. Aint seen that show for 35 years. I couldnt find it on you tube but maybe someone better than me can find it

It was the Iron Mistress. A friend of mine made the knives that were used in the old TV show.

[John Wayne]

It would be interesting to hold for sure. I have held a couple of other worldly objects...on first dates and last dates ;^)

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I found this meteorite in the Mojave desert near a place called Rice. It is the area where Patton trained his tank corps for the invasion of North Africa. It is made of iron and weighs six ounces. The earth is hit by thousands of meteorites everyday. I saw a man on TV who lived just below Tucson, Arizona who had made a great deal of money picking up meteorites and selling them to the Japanese.

[Bmi48219]

Neat!!

AndyC,
Did you ever check it with a Geiger counter?

[358429]

AndyC,
Did you ever check it with a Geiger counter?Again with the critical thinking!

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[Bmi48219]

Again with the critical thinking!

358429,
Please explain how, asking if OP had checked his meteor with a Geiger counter, be considered critical thinking?

[358429]

358429,
Please explain how, asking if OP had checked his meteor with a Geiger counter, be considered critical thinking?Well you had a good idea for how to spot the scammer who is trying to sell the invisible Henry rifle, call the neighbors and see if the building is vacant. That idea never occurred to me.
Now looking at meteorites you bring up the subject of checking them for unusual radiations. Also another very good idea.
How terrible would it be to purchase a stone on eBay that was picked up from an underground nuclear test site?

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[AndyC]

AndyC,
Did you ever check it with a Geiger counter?
Send me one and I will.

[Battis]

Makes me homesick for Krypton.

[Bmi48219]

Now looking at meteorites you bring up the subject of checking them for unusual radiations. Also another very good idea. How terrible would it be to purchase a stone on eBay that was picked up from an underground nuclear test site?


I didn’t think of that and I really know zero about meteors. Just curious if it had been exposed to nuclear fusion or fission while being formed or traveling here. Isn’t everyone?
I know steel & iron processed after 1945 are traceably radioactive because lingering radiation and residual fallout from nuclear bombs and tests attaches to iron ore and incorporates into the finished steel, even today. That’s why pre-1945 steel is highly desired for certain applications. I’m told Geiger counters are adjusted to chirp when detecting radiation levels in excess of the amount commonly present all around us.
Just wondered if a meteorite was radioactive.

[Bloodman14]

Interesting question. After the japan '45 bombings, people were collecting the molten sand/glass, called 'trinitite', I believe, and were making jewelry out of it. Years later, they discovered that it was indeed radioactive! If meteors did come from a star, I would think the radioactivity question to be sound.

[Bmi48219]

I guess that coming from China, OP’s meteorite piece wouldn’t have made it through US customs inspection if it were highly radioactive. At least I hope not.
Must be super cool to hold something that started off as debris from a stellar event and travelled untold millions of miles before slamming into earth. It certainly has every right to glow in the dark, IMO.

[fastdadio]

I guess that coming from China, OP’s meteorite piece wouldn’t have made it through US customs inspection if it were highly radioactive. At least I hope not.
Must be super cool to hold something that started off as debris from a stellar event and travelled untold millions of miles before slamming into earth. It certainly has every right to glow in the dark, IMO.
^^^ Like ^^^

[myg30]

If that was tested with an XRF gun would it only show iron ? I guess this thread has got my interest.

Mike