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Featured Monthly Articles Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team Micro Visions by John Kashuba Galactic Lore by Mike Gilmer Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black Meteorite of the Month by Michael Johnson Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Witnessed Fall: Washougal, Washington, USA by Martin Horejsi Like

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A July 1939 Witnessed Fall: Washougal, Washington, USA

Early Independence Day Fireworks -and my Wife’s Birthday Meteorite!

As t he only wit nessed f all in st at e of Washingt on, Washougal is prized beyond it s rare classif icat ion and miniscule t ot al known weight . Washougal is a beaut if ul st one, and a valuable ent ry at any size int o any collect ion. Reeking wit h diogenit e cryst als and a eucrit ic mat rix, it could easily be post er child of howardit es. Unf ort unat ely, it could just as easily be on t he side of a milk cart on as a lost main mass. According t o hist orylink.org, t he name Washougal is a Cascade Chinook t erm t hat could mean “Small rocks and pebbles.” So it is f it t ing t hat t he Washougal met eorit e is made up of small eucrit e and diogenit e rocks and pebbles.


Washougal, when st ill a f ireball, sailed over over a populat ed area during t he dayt ime–t wo t hings t hat should have made recovery a simple mat t er. However, t hings don’t always work out as we would like since alt hough t he single known mass was recovered less t han 24 hours af t er it f ell, it st ill t ook more t han six weeks bef ore Washougal saw t he light of science-long af t er it “had ceased t o make news.” When considering t he t ime lag bet ween f all and f ormal recovery, I t hink a t erm is needed f or t hat concept ual gap bet ween met eor and met eorit e. In t he at t empt t o coin a t erm, I put f ort h t he word “met eorary” t o be t he st age of exist ence af t er a met eor, but bef ore a met eorit e. T he ‘ary’ suf f ix means “like or connect ed wit h” so meteorary is somet hing t hat is connect ed wit h a met eor and t hat somet hing is t he belief t hat t here will be met eorit es f ound in t he f ut ure. But unt il f ound, t he imaginary object s are said t o be meteorary. Nevada St at e Journal Reno, Nevada Tuesday, July 4, 1939 Explosion Which Rocked Port land Was Met eor, but Scient ist s Can’t Find It PORT LAND, Ore., July 3. (UPI) – A t errif ic explosion which rocks Port land and neighboring cit ies early Sunday was ident if ied Monday as a met eor, but def init e conclusions may not be drawn f or perhaps anot her year. A wide variet y of guesses – ranging f rom belief t hat a powder cache had exploded t o hint s of a bombing – narrowed down Monday t o eyewit nesses account s of a heavenly body st reaking across t he sky and disappearing t o t he nort hwest . Bend, Eugene and Port land account s of t he “f ireball” apparent ly conf irmed t he met eor t heory. Ast ronomical observers, however, point ed out it might be anot her year bef ore t he met eor, which apparent ly exploded in mid-air, could be f ound. T he explosion was believed t o have t aken place f if t y miles nort heast of Port land. Resident s of Woodland, Wash., said a black cloud was observed rising out of t he Cascades Mount ains nort heast of t he communit y.


According t o an art icle by Prof essor E. F. Lange t hat was published in The ORE BIN (vol. 30, No. 8), On Sunday morning, July 2, 1939… “a spect acular f ireball or met eor passed over Port land just bef ore 8:00 a.m. Somewhat t o t he east of Port land t he met eor exploded, causing many people t o awaken f rom t heir Sunday morning slumbers as buildings shook, and dishes and windows rat t led No damage was report ed. Several climbers on Mount Hood and Mount Adams report ed seeing t he unusual event . T he f ireball immediat ely became known as t he Port land met eor and st ories about it appeared in newspapers f rom coast t o coast .” Lange describes t he st one: “T he Washougal met eorit e is about t he size of a t ennis ball and weighs almost one-half pound. It has a light gray int erior, t hroughout which are scat t ered many small nickel-iron part icles. A f ine, smoot h, black f usion coat ing f ormed by it s f iery passage t hrough t he at mosphere covers t he ent ire surf ace.”


T he Washougal met eorit e posing wit h a dime. Yes, a dime. A Unit ed St at es dime has a diamet er of 17.91mm or 0.705 inches making, in my rough est imat ion, making Washougal’s diamet er about 15% smaller t han a t ennis ball. Lange cont inues… “Bet ween 1932 and 1939 Pruet t had collect ed enough dat a f rom cooperat ing observers t o be able t o t race 13 bright f ireballs t hat had passed over t he Nort hwest skies. Af t er each met eor, people sent him a variet y of rocks and minerals which suddenly seemed dif f erent t o t hem. None, however, proved t o be met eorit es unt il August 18, 1939, more t han six weeks af t er t he Port land met eor had ceased t o make news, when he received in t he mail a small box cont aining a f ine, f reshly f allen st ony met eorit e. It had been sent by Jerry E. Best , Washougal, Wash., who had f ound t he int erest ing st one in his backyard on July 3.”


Great gif t s come in small packages. Like gemst ones f rom space, t he olivine cryst als wink beaut y at t he eye of t he beholder. Alt hough t he f all day and mont h of Washougal is t he same as my wif e’s birt hday, t here is no doubt I am t he only one in t he house t hat is excit ed about owning some Washougal. In f act , I’m sure t hat in t he t ime since t his lovely specimen ent ered my collect ion, my lovely wif e has f orgot t en t hat she shares a birt hday wit h it . Oh well. It ’s t he t hought t hat count s, right ?


Fresh crust on a rare achondrit e whose f all was wit nessed is somet hing t hat never get s old. T he beaut y of t he complet e individual t hat f ell 70+ years ago did not escape Leonard, but unt il t he main mass is f ound again, t he f ully crust ed main mass will exist only in t he collect ive imaginat ion of t hose who hold t hese st ones in high regard. T he case of t he missing main mass… Af t er acquiring t he specimen highlight ed in t his art icle, I realized t hat I had not only one of t he very f ew pieces of Washougal in t he world, but also a disproport ionat ely large specimen given t hat t he main mass of t his f all is unaccount ed f or. T he Cat alogue of Met eorit es list s t he main mass as living at t he Universit y of Oregon which is in Eugene, Oregon. T he Nat ural Hist ory Museum in London prof esses a 17g piece along wit h a gram of dust . Arizona St at e Universit y claims 8.1g, and t he Bart oschewit z Collect ion wit h one gram. However, I could not locat e t he main mass during an ext ended t ime at t he Universit y of Oregon. So I dug around in t he lit erat ure. Leaf let No. 165, published in November, 1942 by t he Ast ronomical Societ y of t he Pacif ic includes an art icle by J. Hugh Pruet t t it led T he Portland Meteor and Resulting Meteorite. T he art icle cont ains t he f ollowing excerpt : T he sample was mailed t o Dr. H. H. Nininger of Denver f or posit ive ident if icat ion. “Specimen genuine met eorit e,” a t elegram replied. Dr. F. C. Leonard of t he Universit y of Calif ornia at Los Angeles lat er inspect ed it and pronounced it a “beaut if ul lit t le aerolit e.” Af t er t he present at ion of a small slab t o Dr. Nininger, the remaining 206 grams became a priz ed part of the writer’s meteorite collection. James Hugh Pruet t , known as an amat eur ast ronomer and a f requent cont ribut or t o Sky & Telescope magazine moved on t o t he next world in 1955. I’ve heard t hat t he Washougal main


mass resided in t he museum at t he Universit y of Oregon, but even when allowed access t o t he back room-given t hat no such specimen was on display-not hing was f ound except a mult i-pound rust y slab of t he Willamet t e met eorit e wrapped in a plast ic bag. T he pebble of Washougal howardit e in my collect ion represent s a physical sample of worlds beyond ours, as well as a brief but import ant moment in met eorit ics. T hree t hings are of t en cit ed as key f or met eorit e recovery. First , t here must be someone t o recover t he st one. Second, t he amount of compet ing background rock must be low enough t o make t he t ask reasonable. T hird, t here needs t o be t he int ellect ual curiosit y t o pursue t he unknown. In Washougal’s case, all t hree were present in abundance. But sadly t he st one, at least f or t he moment , cannot ret urn t he f avors. Unt il next t ime‌. T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com Please Share and Enjoy:


Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Like

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This Month’s Meteorite Market Trends

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Tungsten Mountain 533 by Robert Verish Like

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Tungsten Mountain 533 (TM 533), TM 534, TM 542, TM 543 – Image Gallery Images of the Tungsten Mountain 533 (T M 533), T M 534 , T M 54 2, T M 54 3 meteorites – as

f ound “in-situ” and in the lab T he subject of t his mont h’s “Bob’s Findings” art icle is about f our met eorit e f ragment s f ound at Edwards Creek Valley, Nevada, of f icially named t he Tungst en Mount ain 533 (T M 533), T M 534, T M 542, T M 543 – Ordinary Chondrit es, f our st ony met eorit es t hat were f ound May 9th & 10th, 2007 during a “met eorit e-recovery f ield t rip” organized by t his aut hor. T hese “of f icial names” (act ually, t he numbers) were just recent ly approved by t he Nomenclat ure Commit t ee of t he Met eorit ical Societ y, so t hey are recent addit ions t o t he Met eorit ical Bullet in Dat abase, but t hey will event ually appear “in print ” when t he next Met eorit ical Bullet in is published. T he benef it of having t he Dat abase on-line is t hat images of t hese met eorit es can be uploaded via t he Encyclopedia of Met eorit es. Alt hough t hese small, weat hered Ordinary Chondrit es may not be all t hat int erest ing, it is t he f act t hat f or all of t he H-chondrit es t hat have been f ound at t his localit y, t here hasn’t been a proper pairings st udy conduct ed, which is not ewort hy. By t he t ime 500 and more met eorit e f ragment s and individuals were submit t ed f or provisional numbers, it was very apparent t o all of t he f ield workers involved wit h t his localit y, t hat t he vast majorit y of t hese f inds were all of t he same lit hology, an equilibrat ed H-chondrit e, meaning t hat t hey were presumed t o be f rom t he same f all. Yet , even t he f irst 10 classif ications of met eorit es f rom t his localit y were all “equilibrat ed chondrit es”, t here st ill was no proof t hat any of t hese were paired, let alone any proof which one of t hese H-chondrit es represent ed t he vast majorit y of t he 500+ recorded f inds.

Fayalit e (mol%) 17.5 17.9 18.2 18.5 18.6 19.2 19.3 20.3 25 25.5

Plus/minus

Pet rologic Grade

0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2

4 4 5 5 6 6 4 5 6 6

Shock St age 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 4 2

W. Grade W3 W3 W3 W3 W5 W5 W3 W2 W3 W3

TM number T M 003 T M 009 T M 010 T M 007 T M 004 T M 002 T M 001 T M 008 T M 006 T M 005

Hence, t here was a need f or more f inds t o be submit t ed f or classif icat ion. And luckily, t hey were accept ed. Not only t hat , but t he “t urn-around” t ime was surprising short . What can be learned f rom t his, is t hat even t hough t here can be long delays and great dif f icult y in get t ing some common met eorit es classif ied, it isn’t always t he case. Hopef ully, wit h t ime t his problem will improve and it will be less and less used as an excuse f or not get t ing f inds submit t ed f or classif icat ion. I had t hese Tungst en Mount ain f inds classif ied at t he same inst it ut ion t hat classif ied most of t he ot her f inds f rom t his localit y. Over 5 years ago I made t he f ollowing st at ement and it holds t rue even more so t oday: “T here are more t han a couple reasons why a f inder would want his met eorit e classif ied by t he same person who had classif ied ot her f inds f rom t hat same localit y. And it ’s more t han t he f act


t hat it is only proper prot ocol t o give f irst considerat ion t o t he researcher t hat is conduct ing a st udy of t hat localit y. T he most obvious reason would be t hat pairings could be done much easier. In f act , it is becoming more apparent t hat met eorit es, t hat are obviously paired, are having great dif f icult y in get t ing paired when t hey are get t ing classif ied by dif f erent inst it ut ions. ” Now t hat 18 out of t he 19 classif ied f inds f rom Tungst en Mount ain have been done at t he same inst it ut ion, and t heir t ype specimens are available f or proper pairings, it would be more t hat just proper prot ocol t o have f ut ure Tungst en Mount ain f inds classif ied at t hat same inst it ut ion. It would act ually be t he most prudent t hing t o do, as long as t here is any int erest in pairing all of t hese dry lake f inds. I would t hink t his would be a common int erest of bot h collect ors and researchers. Hopef ully, f or ot her mult iple f ind localit ies across t he Sout hwest US, we will see a consensus f orm among f inders and researchers t hat promot es t his prot ocol. Ref erences: Tungst en Mount ain 240 H4 S1 W5 Fa = 16.9±0.1 n=8 opx: Fs15.6Wo3.0 n=1

41.6 g

Tungst en Mount ain 533 H5 S3 W2 Fa = 18.6±0.2 n=7 Fs = 16.4±0.2, Wo = 1.3 n=5 25.3 g Tungst en Mount ain 535 H4 S1 W5 Fa = 18.1±0.2 n=4 Fs = 16.2, Wo = 1.3 n=2

26.1 g

Tungst en Mount ain 542 H5 S3 W1 Fa = 18.3±0.1 n=7 Fs = N/A

4.6 g

Tungst en Mount ain 543 H4 S2 W3 Fa = 18.5±0.3 n=6 Fs = N/A

18.1 g

Tungst en Mount ain 563 H5 S3 W2 Fa = 19.0±0.7 n=5 Fs = N/A

9.3 g

T he f ollowing are links t hat t ake you t o t he Met eorit ical Bullet in descript ion f or t hat Tungst en Mount ain met eorit e. And if you “click” on an image, you can be linked t o an “Enlarged” version of t hat image. T he images are of each met eorit e “as it was f ound” on t he playa and of t he t ypespecimenwhile under st udy in my lab:

Tungsten Mountain 533 –

t his met eorit e is now classif ied and of f icially

NUMBERED: H5, S3, W2 (Fa 18.6+ /- 0.2% n= 7, Fs 16.4 % , Wo 1.3% n= 5)

Tungsten Mountain 535 –

t his met eorit e is now classif ied and of f icially

NUMBERED: H4 , S1, W5 (Fa 18.1+ /- 0.2% n= 4 , Fs 16.2% , Wo 1.3% n= 2)

Tungsten Mountain 542 –

t his met eorit e is now classif ied and of f icially

NUMBERED: H5, S3, W1 (Fa 18.3+ /- 0.1% n= 7, Fs = N/A)

Tungsten Mountain 543 – NUMBERED: H4 , S2, W3 (Fa 18.5+ /- 0.3% n= 6, Fs = N/A)

t his met eorit e is now classif ied and of f icially


My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*

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Meteorite-Times Magazine IMCA Insights – July 2010 by IMCA TEAM Like

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IMCA Insights – July 2010 Ensisheim Meteorite Show 2010 by Norbert Classen

Welcome t o t he July issue of IMCA Insight s and t o our second met eorit e show report f or t his year, Ensisheim 2010. T he show was opening it s gat es f or t he 11t h t ime f rom June 18 t o 20, 2010, and like in t he last years it at t ract ed a lot of int ernat ional visit ors, collect ors, dealers, and scient ist s f rom all over t he world.

View of t he Ensisheim Regency Palace Phot o court esy Pet er Marmet

If you have never been t o Ensisheim: it is t he place of one of t he oldest wit nessed met eorit e f alls, and it is an absolut e must f or every guest t o pay at least a short visit t o t he remaining mass of t he T hunderst one of Ensisheim which f ell in 1492, and which serves as t he cent erpiece of t he annual show which is organized by t he St . Georges Conf rat ernit y of t he Ensisheim Met eorit e Guardians (Conf rérie des Gardiens de la Mét éorit e d’Ensisheim) inside of t he hist oric Regency Palace.


Five new Guardians of t he Ensisheim Met eorit e, among t hem IMCA Members Olaf Gabel and Kazimierz Mazurek Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e

T he t radit ional opening ceremonies of t he Ensisheim show also include a special honor f or a handf ul of special guest s who have been select ed t o become honorary members of t he Brot herhood of Guardians. Among t hem t here were t wo IMCA members t his year, “chief -impact or” Olaf Gabel f rom Germany and seasoned met eorit e collect or Kazimierz Mazurek f rom Poland. In t he evening at t he f amous Friday night dinner part y t he organizer of t he Ensisheim show, Zelimir Gabelica, had t he pleasure t o welcome yet anot her new member t o t he Brot herhood – t he renowned met eorit icist John Wasson who arrived at t he show in t he evening.

Zelimir Gabelica (right ) welcoming John Wasson t o t he Brot herhood Phot o court esy Mirko Graul

I arrived at t he show on Sat urday at about 10 a.m., and I was welcomed by a lot of f riends such as Marc Jost and Pet er Marmet f rom Swit zerland. It t ook me some t ime t o get int o t he Regency Palace as t here were t oo many people t o welcome, and t o t alk wit h. When I f inally ent ered t he main hall where all t he dealers had t heir t ables I was delight ed t o see t hat more t han half of t hem were IMCA members, such as Erich Haiderer, Sergey Vasiliev, Luc Labenne, Philippe T homas,


Laurent Jaworski, Marcin Cimala, Hans Koser, Morit z Karl, Mirko Graul, Mart in Alt mann & St ef an Ralew of Chladni’s Heirs, Ali and Mohammed Hmani, Marc Jost , Pet er Marmet , Dirk Hohmann, Bernd Ruschinzik, Hanno St ruf e, Siegf ried Haberer, Giorgio Tomelleri, and – last but not least – our IMCA Vice-President Anne Black f rom t he Unit ed St at es. Please f orgive me if I f orgot t o ment ion t he one or t he ot her.

View of t he Main Hall, and of various dealer's t ables Phot o court esy Marcin Cimala On all t hese t ables t here were more goodies t han one can possibly ment ion – samples of new and hist oric f alls as well as various desert f inds, enough t o f ill a book, and enough t o make any museum exhibit pale in comparison. However, t here were less new f inds and f alls t his year, but t here were a f ew new t hings wort h ment ioning such as a new orient ed iron f rom Nort hwest Af rica which could be seen at Ali Hmani’s t able.

IMCA Member Ali Hmani and his new orient ed NWA iron met eorit e Phot o court esy Marcin Cimala


Closeup view of Ali Hmani's new orient ed NWA iron met eorit e Phot o court esy Marcin Cimala

T he arguably most f ascinat ing new iron f ind which received a lot of at t ent ion at t his year’s show could be seen at Dima Sadilenko’s and Sergey Af anasiev’s t able. Our Russian f riends were selling a lot of decent sized shrapnels of t he new anomalous at axit e t hat has been recovered f rom t he Jilf al Kabir plat eau in Egypt in 2009 – a rare iron associat ed wit h some recent ly discovered crat ers making t his f ind even more spect acular.

A sample of t he new crat er f orming iron f rom Jilf a Kabir, Egypt Phot o court esy Marcin Cimala

Anot her highlight of t he show were Siegf ried Haberer’s f ant ast ic samples of Almahat a Sit t a, t he f amous ureilit e f all f rom Sudan – t he only f all t hat has been exact ly predict ed and which result ed f rom t he collision of Ast eroid 2008 T C3 wit h our planet Eart h. Almahat a Sit t a is not only special because it is t he f irst predict ed met eorit e f all, and it ’s not only ext raordinary because it represent s an anomalous member of a rare class of achondrit es. In f act , it s nat ure seems t o be much more complicat ed t han t hat : it seems t o represent a f all comprised of several met eorit e t ypes, including dif f erent ureilit ic lit hologies, E chondrit es, ordinary chondrit es, plus a so-f ar unknown t ype of unequilibrat ed chondrit e. And at Siegf ried’s t able everyone could have a close


look at t hese various lit hologies, and at some marvellous complet e st ones f rom t his f all.

Fant ast ic Almahat a Sit t a individuals at Siegf ried Haberer's t able Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e

Siegf ried Haberer, Karin Schneider, and t he aut hor Norbert Classen Phot o court esy Siegf ried Haberer

Of course, I was also lucky t o f ind a f ew new samples f or my own collect ion of planet ary met eorit es. Luc Labenne had a new lunar f rom Oman, Dhof ar 1528, of which I purchased a f ant ast ic 2.042g part slice, and Philippe T homas had anot her new lunar f rom West ern Sahara, NWA 6221, of which I acquired a neat 0.579g t hin slice – just click t he hyperlinks t o view phot os of bot h samples.


Philippe and Lea T homas wit h t heir brand-new lunar NWA 6221 Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e

Of course, Ensisheim is not just about sales and t rades of met eorit es but also f or socializing wit h old and new f riends f rom all over t he world. T here were visit ors f rom t he UK such as Graham Ensor and Pet er Davidson, and also a lot of people f rom t he US such as Anne Black, Mike Farmer, Greg Hupe, and Darryl Pit t . Darryl and I had been dealing, wheeling and mailing wit h each ot her since years via t he int ernet , and we became real penpals in t ime. So it was great t o f inally meet him and t o chat wit h him in person.

Greg Hupe and Darryl Pit t enjoying an original "Met eorit e" beer Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e

As always, it ’s hard t o cover all aspect s of a show such as Ensisheim, and so please f orgive me if I f orgot t o ment ion some major or minor aspect s in my rat her personal show report . Anyway, I’m looking f orward t o see you all in Ensisheim, next year, and if you are considering t o visit Ensisheim, you should also consider t o st ay a f ew days longer, and t o at t end t he nearby Mineral Show at St e. Marie aux Mines which is always opening it s gat es t he week af t er t he Ensisheim show. It ’s one of t he largest rock and gem shows in Europe which is also at t ended by many met eorit e people, and so it is really wort h a visit .


When t he night f alls: part y t ime in Ensisheim Phot o court esy Pet er Marmet

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Meteorite-Times Magazine More Stitching by John Kashuba Like

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Chuck, Last t ime, I went on about my f it t ing pict ures t oget her when my microscope doesn’t have a low enough power. T hat ’s when t he object is t oo big t o f it int o t he f ield of view at my lowest power – wit h best image set t ings (least dist ort ion, best resolut ion et c.) I t ake pict ures of port ions of t he object t hen elect ronically past e t hem t oget her t o get an image of t he whole it em – usually a large chondrule. T here are probably a lot of programs t hat will f it puzzle pieces t oget her f or you. I use t wo t hat came t o me by chance. One was f ree wit h my f irst digit al camera, a Canon. It ’s called Phot oSt it ch. T he ot her is Adobe’s CS4 high power Phot oshop. T his was a gif t f rom my kid(!). As you’d expect , CS4 is pret t y sweet . But somet imes it get s conf used when t here is a lot of black space in t he pict ures. T hen I f all back on Phot oSt it ch. I also use st it ching / merging wit h higher magnif icat ions. Again, I am compensat ion f or not having high grade opt ics wit h a variet y of magnif icat ions. In t his case f eat ures in images at my “regular” magnif icat ion are t oo small. T hat is, when you enlarge t hem t o f ill t he viewing f rame t hey’re blurry. My f ix is t o up t he microscope’s power (which t oo of t en over f ills t he f ield of view) and t ake a set of pict ures t o cover t he f eat ure in quest ion. Merge, t rim and show of f . Let me show you. John

At my normal magnif icat ion t he f ield of view is about 3 mm wide. T his chondrule in a CK5 met eorit e looks int erest ing t o me.


When t hat image is enlarged t he t hing is blurry.

My f ix is t o use a higher microscope magnif icat ion. My next power up won’t accommodat e t he whole chondrule so I t ook f our shot s. T his is one of t hem.


T hose f our shot s merged wit h CS4 look like t his.

Cropped and correct ed it looks pret t y good. Wit hout seeing ot her sect ions t hrough t his barred olivine chondrule we can’t be sure, but t o me it looks like t he sect ion does not cut close t o t he cent er of t he chondrule. T hinking of it as a hardboiled egg, t he shallow cut exaggerat es t he t hickness of t he whit e (t he igneous rim) and just barely cat ches t he yoke (bars).


T he bright ly colored f eat ure in t his CK3 needed a closer look.

But simply enlarging t hat pict ure doesn’t get it .


Merging f our higher magnif icat ion pict ures gave me t his.

T his barred chondrule in a CV3 is not t erribly small in t his shot but I want ed t o see more det ail t hat it hint ed was in and wit hin t he rim.


I t ook f our higher magnif icat ion pict ures of t he t op right quart er of t he chondrule t hen chose t his port ion f or int erest . It looks like t he glass int erst it ial t o t he bars is part ially devit rif ied. Paul and Jim have been good enough t o host a larger version of t his pict ure. Click on t he pict ure t o see it . Please Share and Enjoy:


Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Calendar – July 2010 by Anne Black Like

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Meteorite-Times Magazine Flight-oriented Sikhote-Alin by Michael Johnson Like

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Flight-oriented Sikhote-Alin with countless flow-lines. T he Sikhot e-Alin iron met eorit e is t he largest observed met eorit e f all in modern hist ory. A shower of f ireballs rained down upon t he t hick f orest of t he Sikhot e-Alin mount ains of East ern Siberia in Russia on February 12, 1947 at 10:38 hours. T he f laming f ireball, as bright as t he sun cast moving shadows in broad daylight as it passed by observers. It is est imat ed t hat over 23,000 kilograms f ell t hat morning, leaving a smoke t rail which could be seen in t he sky f or hours. T he met eorit e impact ed t he mount ains wit h a huge explosion which was f elt over 100 miles away. It made over 120 crat ers of varying sizes. T he largest report ed crat er was 20 f eet deep and 85 f eet across. It blast ed f ragment s in every direct ion. Pieces were even f ound embedded in nearby t rees. Š Richard Kowalski T he Michael Johnson Collect ion of Aest het ic Rocks f rom Out er Space Images, t ext are Copyright Š 2010 ROCKSFROMSPACE.org No reproduct ion wit hout writ t en permission. Web design by Michael Johnson of rocksf romspace.org Please Share and Enjoy:


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Once a few decades ago this opening was a framed window in the wall of H. H. Nininger's Home and Museum building. From this window he must have many times pondered the mysteries of Meteor Crater seen in the distance. Photo by Š 2010 James Tobin


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