A meteorite

WHAT IS IT ?

Identify a meteorite

Most meteorites are attracted by the magnet, but the particularity of meteorites compared to terrestrial rocks is that they have a fusion crust.
The fusion crust has been created on the surface of meteorites by crossing the Earth’s atmosphere.
This crust is like a very thin weak black film that can disappear because of erosion.

The chondrites fusion crusts are mat, but the achondrites crusts are more glossy.

As meteorites pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, air turbulence can create thumbprint-like depressions on the surface of meteorites called regmaglypts.
These regmaglypts don’t exist on Earth rocks.

By cutting a stone meteorite, you’ll see in most cases small metal grains and the presence of chondrules (small balls of approximately 1 mm) in the chondrites.

Iron meteorites can be identified through figures Widmanstätten revealed by acid on their polished surface.

Another solution to make sure that a stone is extraterrestrial is to test it with nickel. The meteorite metal always contains nickel. The Earth rocks don’t’. Dimethylglyoxime is used to highlight nickel in a sample.

FIND A METEORITE

It’s a great experience to find meteorites in deserts. You must prepare your expedition very well before begining the hunt.

When the sun is in your back, it’s easier to identify meteorites.
You can walk or use a 4×4 for hunting.
It’s better to prospect in an area where other people have already found meteorites.
In the desert, they are many black metal boxes, black plastics, they can look like meteorites. It can be very dissapointed if nothing is find at the end of the day.
Maybe you have found a meteorite if your eyes see something black and very dark.

The meteorite, older than 4,5 billon years was perhaps waiting for us, for thousands of years.
Often, the impact of the drop has broken the meteorite in many pieces. The dissemination of the fragments suggested a burst that confirms definitively the cosmic nature of the object.
A photo is taken to remember the exactly place, then the harvest can begin.
A meterorite is often hidden in a sandy soil, and like icebergs, the greatest part in not visible.

As soon as the meteorite has been extracted, a GPS point is established to locate the meteorite.

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