Awesome Meteorite

sseth · May 25, 2010

Hare are some pictures of a meteorite I just found. IT is just about as dreamy as they get.

acevillav · May 25, 2010

WOW

Just curious what do meteorites read as on your detector ? Iron :icon_scratch:

Tuberale · May 25, 2010

Might be. Has it been tested for nickel composition yet?

If real, and REAL nice find.

More pics, please?

oakhunter27 · May 25, 2010

cool find how heavy is it

MUD(S.W.A.T) · May 25, 2010

Looks like a lump of coal to me.... :icon_thumleft:

Dose it stick to a magnet ? :dontknow:

Keep @ it and HH !!

tigerbeetle · May 25, 2010

Outstanding, A-company. I'm not sure all folks realize the value of such a find.

Pages 309/310 of O. Richard Norton's book ,"Rocks From Space," offer a small blurb about metal detectors used for hunting meteorites. He hypes White's but obviously all detectors can do the job -- providing they're set for reading iron objects.

According to Norton, newer detectors can be fine-tuned to differentiate between human iron "trash" and possible meteorite material. I balk at that a bit but understand the thinking of tuning out small trashy readings -- and essentially increasing the chance of a meteorite strike, so to speak.

By the by, your find is a museum quality specimen, as is. It is likely not sliceable, though it takes a pro to decide that. I once sliced (w/ diamond saw) an olivine rich stony/iron meteorite and sold the polished slabs for well in excess of $10,000. The finder had been offered $1,000 for the whole piece -- and was that close to selling it. The finder and I split the profit and he rushed off thinking he could easily find another one. That was 15 years ago -- and neither of us have come close to finding any more rocks from the sky.

Fish-Gate · May 25, 2010

Cool! Sounds like it could be worth a bundle. Did you find it in a field? Some universities might be willing to give you lots of info on your find... just a thought.

Brian(upstateNY-Central Fla.) · May 25, 2010

Looks real too me and if so worth a sweet penny for sure :headbang:

49er · May 25, 2010

Fantastic find....WTG

timbobwey · May 25, 2010

cool find. They read as iron??

mobile miner · May 25, 2010

beautiful

.
and valuable

romeo-1 · May 25, 2010

How do you know that it's a meteroite as opposed to iron slag? I know nothing of the difference.

Tuberale · May 25, 2010

romeo-1 said:
How do you know that it's a meteroite as opposed to iron slag? I know nothing of the difference.

There are many factors to tell the difference between a true meteorite and iron slag. There is usually a black or brown fusion-crust 1-3mm thick. A small groove by a file is sufficient to *prove* that exists, and does not require cutting the entire stone. The stone should be magnetic. Often the impact of a meteorite with a rock face will magnetize the meteorite itself.

If you cut a groove, test the filings from the groove for nickel. Nickel-iron meteorites contain about 5% nickel, and the presence of that element, while not completely positive (especially in Southern Oregon!) is a very strong indicator. Josephinite, found along the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, is the only terrestrial mineral I am aware of which has both nickel and iron in it.

Usually, meteorites will have regmaglympts on it. If you don't know what that word means, look it up.

This stone, at over 2 inches long, could be slabbed, and the cut surfaces etched to show Widmanstatten patterns. A meteorite showing such patterns is worth more than one which does not show them.