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Meteorite-Times Magazine
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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: Alfianello, Italy
by Martin Horejsi
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An February 1883 Witnessed Fall: Alfianello, Italy
A Beauty Forged by Air.
A Form Destroyed by Rage.
A Treasure Lost through Excess.
My specimen of Alf ianello reminds me of a polished rock bookend sold
by t he pair in small t own gif t shops. It s weight in can be measured in
pounds, and it s dimensions in inches- including it s t hickness. Of course
met ric unit s are t he indust ry st andard, but US measurement can be
so much f un since t heir crude precision is smug wit h irresponsible
surplus.
Making it s debut at t he Accret ion Desk is an f aux ant ique scale cube
creat ed by Tom Phillips. Tom calls t hese cubes “Mart in Cubes” af t er
me because he t hought I would like t hem given my int erest - make
t hat obsession- wit h hist oric wit nessed f alls. Tom was right , and he
can be cont act ed at : st arsandscopes@aol.com .
It was an int erest ing morning when I got a slab of It alian hist ory f rom Bob Haag. T he day bef ore,
while at t he 2005 Tucson Show, my collect ion t urned a corner in st at us when Bob passed a whole
handf ul of t orches on t o me…f or a price of course.
Bob and I were going t o complet e t he deal t he f ollowing day, so when I showed up t he next
morning, I quizzed Bob about t he Alf ianello sit t ing in his display case bef ore complet ing our deal.
He named a price, and in an rarely used but highly pract iced reply, I agreed t o t he sale wit hout
really t hinking about it . In f act I didn’t need t o t hink much at all because deep down in my
subconscious, t he mere act of asking was already it s own answer.
Fusion crust engulf s one edge of my slice like black on a charred log.
or
Sensuous undulat ions of f rozen liquid rock embrace t he regmaglypt s
like black silk sheet s clinging t o sweat y lovers.
In real est at e, one can use market values of similar propert ies f or comparison. But in t his case,
t here was not hing like it available in t he world (t o my knowledge anyway) and t here hadn’t been in
a long t ime (as f ar as I knew).
Was it old? Yes, well over a cent ury.
Did it have crust ? Yup. Plent y.
A rich collect ion hist ory? Richer t han a $10 chocolat e t ruf f le.
What about T KW?
Well, t he aimless blade of science-t o quot e Neil Young- would say t here are 228kgs t hat f ell f rom
t he sky. But a recent global collect ion invent ory of Alf ianello could account f or less t han a quart er
of t hat amount . So wit h ~50kgs account ed f or, t hat means t hat my piece of Alf ianello represent s
at least 2% of t he t ot al known mat erial. And given t he number of smaller pieces in collect ions, it
also places my piece in t he upper echelons of size.
Rare class?
Good t hing I don’t worry about such t rivial det ails as classif icat ion. And so what if Alf ianello is t he
most common met eorit e class in t he solar syst em. All kidding aside, alt hough Alf ianello is an L6
chondrit e it does have some large chondrules including one very nice megachondrule. T here is also
enough shiny met al f lake t o keep a whole school of bass busy all day.
T his East er Egg of a megachondrule overpowers every ot her int ernal
f eat ure on t his slice. I f igure t hat any t ime one can use a scale cube
t o show t he size of a chondrule, it ’s a good t hing!
But I digress. Alt hough adding t he purchase of Alf ianello t o my pile of amazing met eorit es raised
t he t ot al I spent wit h Bob t hat weekend by half again as much, I knew t hat t here was no way such
an opport unit y would ever come my way again, or at least again bef ore my wallet had a chance t o
recover.
A rich collect ion hist ory? What could be bet t er t han t his? Oh, ok. I can
imagine bet t er t oo, but you’ve got t o admit t hat provenance f rom t he
f amous Humboldt Universit y Museum in Berlin f ollowed by t he Robert
A. Haag collect ion is hard t o beat t hese days.
On May 26, 1883, t he Stevens Point Journal newspaper in St evens Point , Wisconsin ran a st ory
about t he Alf ianello f all. A f ew not able point s in t he playf ul slice of newsprint hist ory include t hat
t he met eorit e was hot , st unk, and most of all, shaped like a t runcat ed cone.
A t runcat ed cone?
A quick google search f or “t runcat ed cone” yields a f irst hit f or wikipedia’s ent ry f or f rustum t hat
cont ains t he f ollowing line: “In the aerospace industry, f rustum is the common term f or the
f airing between two stages of a multistage rocket (such as the Saturn V), which is shaped
like a truncated cone.”
Cool!
Here’s t he t ext f rom t he art icle:
An Aerolite
T he Rome correspondent of t he St . James Gazet t e says t hat on t he 16t h of February
some peasant s working in a f ield near Brescia were st art led by hearing a loud report
like t hunder. Looking up t hey saw t he clouds t orn open, and a large body f ollowed by a
t rain of bluish smoke hurt ling t hrough t he air over t heir heads wit h t he noise of an
express t rain.
T he aerolit e buried it self in an adjoining f ield, t he f all causing a shock like t hat of
eart hquake. It was f elt t en kilomet ers away, while t he report was heard at Verona and
Piacenze, many miles dist ant .
When t hey had recovered f rom t heir f right t he peasant s hurried t o t he spot , and f ound
a clean hole about t hree f eet deep running in an oblique direct ion f rom nort hnort heast ; and on digging down t hey came t o a solid block, in t he f orm of a t runcat ed
cone, weighing f rom f our t o f ive hundred pounds.
T he surf ace, which was st ill hot , and emit t ed a sulf urous smell, was covered wit h a
greenish black crust , f ull of small holes, such as would be made by f inger-t ips in a sof t
past e, which may have given rise t o t he report t hat one of t he f ragment s bore t he
impress of a hand.
T he propriet or of t he clover-f ield in which t he aerolit e f ell f lew int o a rage at his crops
being t rampled down by people coming t o see it , and broke it up, when it was carried
away piece meal. So he gained not hing but damage t o his f ields, while t hose who
picked up t he pieces f ound a ready sale f or t hem, one man get t ing as much a seven
t housand f ranks f or a lump t hat weighed t went y-f ive pounds.
On a subsequent search by Prof essor Bombicci, of Bologna, several pieces of
scorize, apparent ly det ached f rom t he aerolit e in it s f light , were f ound in t he
neighborhood.”
As you can read, t he beaut if ully orient ed 228kg individual of Alf ianello was broken t o pieces
t hrough t he rage of t he caret aker. But had t he f armer played a dif f erent card, he might have had
t he st ory of one of t he world’s most f amous orient ed st one met eorit e f alls in hist ory f orever linked
t o his f amily name in t he hist ory books. Sadly, even when st ones f all f rom t he sky t oday, t hey
of t en suf f er t he same f at e of shallow minds who misdirect t heir f rust rat ions, or expect int ernally
buried t reasure.
On anot her not e, it seems t hat “Prof essor Bombicci of Bologna” was a busy man. Here are t wo
links f or his legacy. T he f irst is f or t he L. Bombicci Mineralogy Museum, and t he second is f or a
specimen collect ion card f rom t he Luigi Bombicci Mineralogical Museum at t he Universit y of
Bologna f ounded 1860.
Even t he so-called ordinary L6 is f illed wit h jewels f rom our ancient
solar syst em. Under a microscope or magnif ying glass, t his slice of
cosmic propert y provides acres and hours of enjoyment as you
discover t he shapes, colors and f eat ures jam-packed int o a
seemingly monot one st ruct ure.
You can mouse-over t he images bot h above and below t o compare
real color t o invert ed color. By doing so, dif f erent f eat ures- and
f eat ures wit hin f eat ures- in t he Alf ianello mat rix jump out .
Anot her more t echnical art icle was published in t he Proceedings of t he Royal Societ y of London,
Vol. 35 (1883), pp. 258-260. Here is an excerpt f rom t hat art icle addressing t he circumst ances of
t he f all and recovery of Alf ianello.
Examination of the Meteorite which f ell on the 16th February 1883, at Alf ianello,
in the District of Verolannova, in the Province of Brescia, Italy.
By WALT ER FLIGHT, D.Sc., F.G.S. Communicat ed by Prof essor G. G. St okes, Sec. RS.
Received May 17, 1883.
I gat her f rom a short preliminary not ice, which has been sent by M. Denza t o Prof essor
Daubree, and has been published in a recent number of t he ” Compt es Rendus,” a f ew
part iculars respect ing t he f all of t his st one, and it s general appearance.
T he f all t ook place, wit h a loud det onat ion, at 2.55 P.M. on t he day above ment ioned; it
was heard in t he neighboring provinces of Cremona, Verona, Mant ua, Piacenza, and
Parma.
In Alf ianello it is described as épouvant able (a French adject ive meaning appalling or
dreadf ul).
It descended f rom N.N.E. t o S.S.W., at a dist ance of about 150 met res f rom a peasant ,
who f ell f aint ing t o t he ground; t elegraphic wires were set in mot ion, and t he windows
were shaken.
It st ruck t he ground about 300 met res sout h-west of Alf ianello, in a f ield on an est at e
called Frosera, penet rat ing t he soil, in t he same direct ion as it passed t hrough t he air,
f rom east t o west , t o a dept h of about 1 met re, t he pat h t hrough t he soil being about
1.50 met re.
When t aken out of t he ground it was st ill a lit t le warm. It f ell complet e, but was at once
broken t o pieces by t he f armer of t he est at e.
T he st one is oval in f orm, and somewhat f lat t ened in t he cent re, t he lower part being
larger and convex, like a ket t le, t he upper part being t runcat ed.
T he surf ace is covered wit h t he usual black crust , and st rewn wit h lit t le cavit ies, now
met wit h as individuals, now in groups, and in t he eye of some people bearing a
resemblance t o t he impression of a hand or t he f oot of a she-goat .
T he st one weighs about 200 kilos. In st ruct ure t his met eorit e belongs t o t he group
Sporadosideres oligosideres, and resembles Anmalit e, being almost ident ical wit h t he
met eorit e of New Concord, Ohio.
Except f or t he megachondrule, t his region of Alf ianello mat rix could
be considered a random snapshot generalizable t o all Alf ianello
mat erial.
T he more t ime you spend looking, t he more you will see. But don’t
f orget t hat t he pict ure above represent s only about f ive cent imet ers
across.
While t he arrival of Alf ianello was a major impact f or t he year 1883, it was not t he great est . T hat
honor goes t o t he f amous erupt ion of Krakat oa volcano in August . T here are many report s t hat up
t o a year af t er t he erupt ion human skelet ons f loat ed across t he Indian Ocean on raf t s of volcanic
pumice only t o wash up on t he east coast of Af rica. Just imagine how t hat would be explained! It
would make t he f all of a large hot st inky rock f rom space seem odd, but not t erribly unusual.
Unt il next t ime…
T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com
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Meteorite-Times Magazine
2010 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show
by Jim Tobin
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Anot her Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is in t he hist ory book. What an excit ing t rip it was f or Paul
and I. We t ook an ext ra day t his year and it made a big dif f erence in t he way t he week went . It was
a lit t le more relaxed and we had a chance t o f ind a f ew more great it ems t hat we might ot herwise
have missed.
We got int o t own about 1 pm on Wednesday and headed st raight away t o f ind met eorit es at a
secret locat ion of f t he beat en pat h t hat we hit each year.. We f ound t he met eorit es and some
great Moldavit e t oo. In less t han one hour, t wo of t he it ems on our “really want list ” were checked
of f . We st opped brief ly at t he f ormer Inn Suit es and saw some people. T hen it was of f t o t he hot el
t o check in and get some lunch. T he night was likely t o run lat e wit h t he screening of Met eorit e
Men t op of t he list of places t o be. So having had our hot el room given away once many years ago
we t ry t o check in bef ore night t ime act ivit ies.
Back on t he road about mid af t ernoon we were back looking at met eorit es around t own. I had a
short list of it ems I was personally looking f or. Of course t here are always many ot her met eorit es
t o see t hat I f ind int erest ing. Almahat a Sit t a t he met eorit e f all t hat had been t racked f rom space
t o t he ground a f ew mont hs ago was one I really want ed t o check out . Anne Black had delight f ul
pieces in her room of t his unique met eorit e. Not only is it t he only met eorit e t hat was a t racked
ast eroid bef ore breaking up in our at mosphere and spreading it self across t he ground. But it
t urned out t o be an unusual t ype. Polymict Ureilit es are about as rare as ones t racked bef ore
f alling.
Anne Black and Geof f Not kin have shared a room at t he show f or t he last f ew years and while
t here one of our early visit s Geof f generously present ed Paul and I wit h Aerolit e Met eorit e ball
caps. T his will be a t reasured mement o which I will also wear wit h pride. T here was a t remendous
variet y and beaut if ul present at ion of met eorit es in t heir room. It is just a great place t o hang
around. For very soon any one you are looking t o f ind will appear. I t hink by t he end of t he week I
had only f ailed t o see one or t wo people on my “people list ”.
I had been looking f or Nerf t one of only f our met eorit es f rom Lat via f or a f ew years. I knew t hat
Morit z had some last year t hat I had missed And t here it was in Mike Farmer’s roomt his year. So
af t er get t ing it I am just one met eorit e away f rom complet ing Lat via. We had some f un get t ing a 1
kilo of small Gaos f rom Mike. Not hing beat s sit t ing on a comf ort able couch and picking t hrough
bags of met eorit es. It is not as much f un now t o go home and have t o clean t hem up a lit t le. Af t er
50 years t hey are showing a rust y color on t he surf ace. But , it most ly disappears wit h some t oot h
brushing.
I have had a “probably never get ” list wit h a f ew met eorit es on it . Chassigny was t op of t hat list .
But ,. I f ound some t his year and it is now part of my collect ion. Who would have guessed. To be
honest t hough; t he f ragment is cert ainly t he smallest in my collect ion as well.
I have several individuals and slices of Allende. When I saw t he one I got t his year in Erich
Haiderer’s room it was love at f irst sight . I t hink it is maybe t he most CAI rich slice per square inch I
have ever seen. We were showing what we had bought t o Paul’s brot her Tony and he said one of
t he Calcium Aluminum Inclusions looked like a ghost . I t hink he is right .
Allende slice overf lowing wit h dif f erent kinds of CAIs
T he Ghost CAI
I had a good year wit h f inding orient ed irons. I have slowed down buying t hem. I just get a couple
each year. I f ound t wo very nice Sikhot e Alins and t wo great Taza individuals. One of t he SAs Paul
named t he Rat Poop met eorit e and t hat name will st ick I t hink
A remarkable Sikhot e Alin which will always have a st range
name
Two orient ed Taza specimens
T he t wo Taza met eorit es I got f rom Bruno and Carine. While t here t hey let me t ake a couple
pict ures of some ot her special it ems t hey had. T he Fukang f ull slice was spect acular. T he crat er in
t he Sikhot e Alin is quit e remarkable as well.
Full slice of t he Fukang pallasit e
A large crat er in a Sikhot e Alin individual
T he f irst morning is always when we st op by Blaine Reed’s room and we did not deviat e f rom
t radit ion t his year. I f ound a couple pieces t here, but t he f un is always get t ing t o t alk t o him and
hear his opinions on t he met eorit e world. One of t he ot her rooms at his hot el had some st ones last
year and I got a couple. T his year we swung by t here t o see if he had any met eorit es again. Well
he did. He had t he same t hree st ones I had lef t behind last year. Two t hat were very quest ionable
as being real and one t hat I had not got t en in ‘09. So you know t he next part . I got it t his year. Now
he just has t he t wo int erest ing maybe or maybe not st ones. I guess I can look at t hem again next
year.
T he business had bought a big bat ch of st uf f and we needed t o send it home. A st op by a
shipping boot h got t hat big load of iron and st one of f our minds. We don’t like t o leave anyt hing in
t he rent al car so it get s t ough t o carry everyt hing wit h us.
Wednesday night was t he screening of anot her episode of t he Met eorit e Men Science Channel
series. It was great t o gat her t oget her as a large group of met eorit e ent husiast s and wat ch it
t oget her. T he commercial breaks were cert ainly more f un t hen at home wit h Geof f and St eve
ent ert aining us during t hose t imes of advert isement s. Having arrived just t hat af t ernoon it was
also t he f irst occasion t o see many of our f riends. What a wonderf ul evening of f un.
In f act every evening of t he t rip t his year had some event f or us t o at t end. T hursday was t he
IMCA dinner. T he Met eorit e Exchange had never at t ended bef ore. We had gone out f or dinner as a
small group of f riend in years past . I t hink we will enjoy many more IMCA dinners in t he f ut ure. It
was also a nice opport unit y t o make new f riends and reconnect wit h f riends we had not seen in a
while. On Friday night t he Birt hday Bash f or Geof f and St eve brought around anot her chance t o
have Pizza. T he f ire dancers were a hit I t hink.
T his year’s Harvey Awards were given out t o a very deserving group of recipient s. And Geof f
f avored t he crowd wit h some songs af t er t he regular program ended. A spect acular evening as
always.
Sat urday night is Michael Blood’s Met eorit e Auct ion. Unf ort unat ely I can not comment on it . For t he
f irst t ime ever I missed it . I underst and f rom t he t hings I have read t hat it f inished up early and
went of f well. We had an absent ee bid in and won t he it em. So Paul and I were happy t o hear t hat .
We spent a very wonderf ul evening out t o dinner wit h t wo members of Paul’s f amily who had
driven over f rom Phoenix. Sorry t o say t his Michael, but I don’t t hink eit her of us missed going t o
t he auct ion. We were having so much f un, laughing, t ell and hearing st ories t hat it was act ually 45
minut es af t er t he Out back closed bef ore we not iced we were t he only people t here (and t hat t hey
were cleaning up). We had lef t a nice t ip, but it was really nice of t hem t o not t hrow us out .
Sunday morning t here was really only t ime t o make a f ast pass t hrough t he Inn Suit es t o say some
goodbyes and set t le up some bills. I needed t o pay Anne Black f or several pieces. T hen it was of f
t o t he Airport by way of a gas st at ion. $5 a gallon if we don’t f ill t he t ank. I act ually got t urned
around and messed up a couple t imes driving t his t rip. Maybe once a year is not enough t ime t o
spend in Tucson. Especially wit h so many f riend living t here now.
We f ound what we had want ed t o get f or t he business, we saw almost everyone we hoped t o see.
We met many new people we had only known f rom emailing. I f ound some nice pieces f or my
collect ion. As Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows go t his may have been t he best so f ar.
A beaut if ul slice of Monze
A very int erest ing Howardit e slice
Ash Creek
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Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood
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This Month’s
Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood
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The Arizona Meteorite Exhibition (2010)
by Robert Verish
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T he f irst-ever LPL event was well-attended. Hopef ully there will be more Exhibitions in the
f uture.
In my opinion t he f irst -ever Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion was a huge success. It was host ed by, and
was t he “kick-of f ” event celebrat ing t he 50t h anniversary of t he Lunar and Planet ary Laborat ory
(LPL) locat ed on t he Universit y of Arizona campus in Tucson. It brought t oget her Arizona met eorit e
f inders, classif iers, researchers, and collect ions. T he event f eat ured exhibit s of Arizona
met eorit es and met eorit e collect ions, as well as, inf ormat ive displays, lect ures, and post ers. T he
event was held in t he At rium of t he Kuiper Space Sciences Building.
Dolores Hill should be congrat ulat ed f or a large part of t he success of t his event . She and her
colleagues conduct ed a monument al ef f ort t o cont act f inders and classif iers and collect ors of
Arizona met eorit es, and t hen t o arrange t o have t hese people and t heir met eorit es brought t o t his
event in order t o mingle wit h t he LPL researchers and t o meet t he general public. Just t he making
of labels and t he set t ing up of t he display cases and post ers was a laborious t ask t hat wasn’t
f inally complet ed unt il just minut es bef ore t he doors opened at 6PM (January 30t h).
Post card f rom Exhibit ion is now a “collect ible”
Alt hough t his Exhibit ion was widely publicized bef ore t he event (evidenced by how well-at t ended it
was), I f ound t here was only sparse report ing on t he Int ernet af t er t he Exhibit ion. It may be a result
of t he Tucson Show f ollowing immediat ely on t he heels of t he Exhibit ion. But t he f ew people t hat
did report on t he Exhibit ion did such a f ine job of giving a genuine port rayal of t he event , t hat I am
going t o depart f rom my usual art icle layout and, inst ead, will have my “Ref erences:” sect ion
immediat ely precede my image gallery.
I know t hat , speaking f or myself , t here was a very short period of t ransit ion-t ime f rom t he
Exhibit ion t o t he Tucson Show. So short , in f act , t hat I wasn’t able t o pick-up f rom Dolores Hill t he
met eorit es t hat I had loaned f or t he Exhibit ion display unt il af t er t he Tucson Show!
By t he way, t he met eorit es f rom my collect ion t hat I loaned f or display were:
Bluebird
Franconia – t he f irst one, f rom which t he t ype specimen was classif ied.
Gold Basin (L6) – a.k.a.,”Hualapai Wash 010″
Red Dry Lake 002 t hrough 009
Sacrament o Wash 002 – f rom t he classif ied st one (f rom which t he t ype specimen was obrt ained).
Warm Springs Wilderness – an endcut f rom t he classif ied st one (f rom which t he t ype specimen
was obrt ained).
Willcox Playa 002
Willcox Playa 004
Willcox Playa 005
Willcox Playa 006
Willcox Playa 007
Due t o t ime const raint s and t he size of some of t he specimens, not all of my met eorit es got t o be
displayed. T he f ollowing images are of t hose specimens t hat didn’t get t o be displayed:
Bluebird (L6):
“Hualapai Wash 010″:
Willcox Playa 004 (L6 S4 W2):
Willcox Playa 005 (H5):
Willcox Playa 006 (H6):
Willcox Playa 007 (L6 S2 W1):
Will there be other Ariz ona Meteorite Exhibitions in the Future?
I can only hope so. But , I asked Dolores Hill t his same quest ion, and she point ed out t hat t his was
all part of a 50t h anniversary celebrat ion f or t he LPL and she sincerely hopes t hat it won’t be
anot her 50 years bef ore t he next Exhibit ion, but she hopes t hat whoever runs t he next event t hat
t hey have a less arduous job get t ing it organized. Possibly using anot her venue, t here could be a
f ut ure Exhibit ion sooner. Maybe hold it at ASU? But given t he rat e of increase in t he number of AZ
met eorit e f inds being made, we may need t o hold t he next Exhibit ion at t he Convent ion Cent er!
Even if it has t o be held elsewhere, I do hope t hat t here will be more Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ions
in t he near f ut ure.
References:
Post by “Keit h V.” t o t he Open-Subscriber”
regarding his images about t he Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion are now uploaded.
Link t o t he “ArizonaViking” Yahoo-f likr websit e showing his images f rom t he:
Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion – January 30, 2010
Link t o Rubin Garcia’s YouTube video of t he:
2010 Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion
Announcement of Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion (in a.PDF f ile) f rom, Lunar and Planet ary
Laborat ory, as post ed on Met eorit e-Times.com – December 2009.
Appearance of Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion in, LPL Calendar, on Universit y of Arizona web sit e.
Post by “SkyLook123″ about Arizona Met eorit e Exhibit ion in Cloudy Night s, Telescope Review,
t it led “January 30 Kuiper Space Sciences Anniversary Event “.
Bob’s Findings – art icle t it led, Tucson Show 2009, in Met eorit e-Times.com – February 2009.
Bob’s Findings – art icle t it led, Willcox Playa 005, WP 006, and WP 007 – Image Gallery, in
Met eorit e-Times.com – March 2005.
Gallery of Images – Bob’s Findings Art icle f or February 2010
2010 Arizona Meteorite Exhibition
T he event was held in t he At rium of t he Kuiper Space Sciences Building.
Arizona Keit h did a f ine job of recording t his event wit h his digit al camera. As you can see in t he
above image, he was “at t he ready” as always.
Regist rat ion f or t he Exhibit ion at t he f ront door.
Dick Pugh and Melinda Hut son f orm Cascadia Met eorit e Laborat ory (CML), and Dolores Hill (LPLUA)
CML post er present ed at t he Exhibit ion
Anot her CML post er present ed at t he Exhibit ion
Lect ures during t he Exhibit ion as part of t he LPL Symposium
T-shirt s wit h t he Map of Arizona Met eorit es were on sale.
Anot her post er on display at t he Exhibit ion
Arizona met eorit es on display!
One of many cases of AZ met eorit es displayed at t he Exhibit ion
My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*
For for more information, please contact me by email:
Bolide*chaser
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IMCA Insights – February 2010
by IMCA TEAM
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Fourth Annual IMCA Dinner in Tucson
by Maria Haas
T his was t he f ourt h t ime we host ed an of f icial IMCA dinner in Tucson during t he show. Each year
we have got t en a f ew more at t endees t han t he year prior so I expect ed around 35 people. It is my
pleasure t o t ell you we had 63 people at t he dinner t his year!
La Fuent e Mexican Rest aurant glowing in t he moonlight
(Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
From background lef t clockwise: New Member Erik
Christ ensen, Me, Michael Blood, Lint on Rohr, Mark Murphy,
Mohammad Hmani, Bob Falls, Greg Hupe, Angel Blood
(Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
In background: Svend Buhl, Dave Gheesling, Mr. and Mrs.
Don Hurkot , Foreground: Anne Black, Dr. Art Ehlmann and
f ormer st udent Denise, Count ess and Count Deiro, Robert
Boedecker II and guest , Carol Falls, Bob Falls’ niece, Bob
Falls and our server who did such a nice job t aking care of
all of us (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
I'm not sure what I'm doing in t his pict ure but Anne Black
(lef t ) looks normal enough f or t he bot h of us. (Phot o by
Keit h Vasquez)
Bob Falls, Geof f Not kin, Larry Lebof sky, Dr. Art Ehlmann
and f ormer st udent Denise, Count ess Deiro. Background:
Jim Tobin, Bob Holmes, Don Edwards, Dr. Jim Short en,
Mohammad Hmami, Anne Black, and Michael Blood in his
f amous t ie-died Shirt (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Don Edwards, Fredrick St ephan, Bob Holmes, Doug Dawn
(Phot o by Leigh Anne Del Ray)
New Member Eric Christ ensen and his sist er had t heir own
t able (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Erik Krieder (Twink's Guest ), Dolores Hill's beaut if ul smile,
Rik Hill, Count Deiro Background: Dr. Jim Short en, Richard
Kowalski (Discoverer of T C3/Alhamat t a Sit t a!), Sarah Cole,
Keit h Vasquez's f riend Orlando, Geof f Not kin, Mark Bowling
and “Dit t o” (A great met eorit e hunt er f riend of several
part y guest s) (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Geof f Not kin and Jose Gut ierrez (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Bot h Met eorit e Men, St eve Arnold and Geof f Not kin, and
Me (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Geof f Not kin, Leigh Anne DelRay, and Me (Phot o by Keit h
Vasquez)
Lint on Rohr, Leigh Anne DelRay, David (Leigh Anne's
boyf riend), Mohammad Hmani, Greg Hupe, Angel Blood
(Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Jim Tobin, Paul Harris and Larry Lebof sky (Phot o by Keit h
Vasquez)
Erich Haiderer, Rik Hill, Angel Blood, Erik Christ ensen and his
sist er, Michael Blood, Lint on Rohr, Mike Murphy (Phot o by
Keit h Vasquez)
Aw, aren't t hey cut e! Mr. and Mrs. St eve Arnold Lef t f rom
background: Sarah Cole, Orlando (Keit h Vasquez's Guest ),
Dolores and Rik Hill (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
St eve Arnold, Qynne Arnold, Twink Monrad, Jim Tobin, Larry
Lebof sky, Gary Fujihara, Erik Krieder (Twink's Guest ),
Dolores and Rik Hill (Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Here's a great pict ure! Svend Buhl, Paul Harris, Anne Black
(Phot o by Keit h Vasquez)
Even wit h Fredrick St ephan having donat ed t hree of our f ive door prizes, it didn’t f eel like enough
f or t hat many people so Dolores Hills graciously donat ed t hree ASU t -shirt s t o help. T his pict ure is
of everybody wait ing f or Richard Kowalski t o pick t heir name: Gary Fujihara, Don Edwards, Rob
Mat son, Don Hurkot , Mrs. Hurkot , Robert Boedecker II and Mrs. Boedecker, Lint on Rohr, Erik
Christ ensen’s Sist er, Mark Murphy, Carol, Bob’s Neice, Bob Falls, Rik Hill, Dolores Hill, Leigh Anne
Delray, Richard Kowalski, Sarah Cole and in t he middle poised t o jump: Eduardo Jawerbaum!
T he door prize winners were: Bob Falls, Greg Hupe, Robert Boedecker II, Erik Krieder, Orlando
(Keit h’s Friend), Oscar (Jose’s f ut ure son-in-law), Mohammed Hmani, and Eduardo Jawerbaum.
We had t echnical dif f icult ies wit h some phot os and several guest s are not pict ured but t hey aren’t
f orgot t en. T hanks t o everyone who at t ended and was shown in a phot o plus Dorot hy Nort on,
Dave Mouat , Mike Jensen, Bill Jensen, Russ Finney, and last but not least , Keit h Vasquez, our
phot ographer. A f ew people were not able t o at t end but t hey were missed: Jim St rope, Paul and
Wendy Swart z, Karl Ast on and his son, Bob Cucciara and Larry Sloan.
T he next t wo pict ures have not hing t o do wit h t he dinner but are provided f or your pleasure. Who’d
have t hought we’d have t wo f ine auct ioneers at t he Blood Auct ion!?!
Count Deiro (t op) did a f ine job at Michael Blood's (below)
podium - bot h assist ed by Leigh Anne DelRay (bot h phot os
by Russ Finney)
I look f orward t o meet ing more of you and if you are
t raveling t o t he Tucson show in 2011, it would be our
pleasure if joined us f or dinner. All are welcome.
Maria Haas
Treasurer t o t he St ars
• IMCA Home Page • IMCA Code of Et hics • IMCA Member List
• Join IMCA • IMCA Met eorit e Inf o
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Armored Chondrules
by John Kashuba
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Chuck,
T hank you f or slicing up a f ew of my NWA 869s f or me. Per our deal I’m sending half t he slices
back t o you. You say you’re going t o give t hem away t o kids but you ought t o keep t hat one wit h
t he armored chondrules t o show around. I put it in a membrane box t o keep it separat e.
Armored chondrules aren’t rare but t hey st ill seem special. Maybe it ’s t he name. Armored. Sounds
subst ant ial. T hat shiny ring we see around sliced chondrules is a sect ion t hrough a met al-sulf ide
shell t hat more or less coat s t he chondrule. One explanat ion f or how t hese came int o being is t hat
during chondrule f ormat ion met al-sulf ide droplet s, what ever t heir origin, separat ed f rom t he
silicat e melt and gat hered on t he surf ace of solidif ying chondrules – dubbed “expelled” coat ings.
Anot her suggest ion is t hat MS vaporized during chondrule melt ing and t hen deposit ed on
chondrule surf aces during cooling – “recondensed” coat ings. [Summarized by Vogel et al. (2004) in
MAPS.] Anot her scenario invokes impact mobilizat ion of MS, f ragment at ion of t he parent body and
subsequent reaccret ion – an impact and reaccumulat ion process. [Kojima et al. (2003) in
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Act a.]
Here are some pict ures.
- John
My f irst . CR2s weren’t cheap bef ore t he great desert bonanza t ook
hold. But when Rob Elliot t said t hose magic words, Armored
Chondrules, I had t o have it . $324 per gram. Give your NWA 869 a hug
t onight . Acf er 209 CR2.
Years lat er I got t his LL3 on eBay f or about t hree bucks per gram.
Neat st uf f . Adrar Madet 002 LL3 S4, W2.
A bull’s eye. DaG 1040 CV3.
A met al shell wit h addit ional mat erial around it . DaG 1040 CV3.
Same, wit h t he addit ion of t ransmit t ed cross polarized light .
Incident light and t ransmit t ed XPL. NWA 801 CR2.
Shişr 033 CR2
T here’s a lot going on here. Is t hat an armored bleb of met al?
Yes, and, not surprisingly, a layered bleb. Probably a CR2.
NWA 801 CR2, my f avorit e.
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Tracy Latimer
by Editor
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T his f eat ure is devot ed each mont h t o one of t he personalit ies wit hin t he met eorit e communit y.
T his mont h we are delight ed t o share an int erview we had wit h Tracy Lat imer.
Myself and my husband wit h a f ew of our t oys in t he back yard.
Met eorit e-Times (MT ) What or who got you int erest ed in met eorit es and how old were you when
you got your f irst met eorit e?
Tracy Lat imer (T L) I st art ed collect ing about a decade ago. I was looking f or unique Christ mas
gif t s online, and having been recent ly int roduced t o ebay, on a whim t yped in ‘met eorit es’. I was
ast onished t o f ind t hat t hey were available f or t he public t o buy. I bought all my f riends t iny
met eorit e samples f or Christ mas t hat year, and spawned my own int erest at t he same t ime.
(MT ) What was your f irst met eorit e?
(T L) I bought a bunch at approximat ely t he same t ime; t he one I remember f rom t hat f irst bat ch is
a skelet al Imilac, wit h all t he olivine weat hered away.
(MT ) Do you st ill have it ?
(T L) Yes.
(MT ) Do you have special areas of int erest t hat you f ocus on in regards t o met eorit es (t hin
sect ions, phot ography, chemist ry, age dat ing.. et c)?
(T L) Ideally I’d like pieces f rom every unique f all or f ind, but t hat just isn’t in t he budget . I have a
f ew gaps, but I’ve been working on get t ing a represent at ive piece f rom every pet rologic grade
and t ype. Recent ly I’ve been concent rat ing on lower pet rologic t ypes, t he L3s and LL3s; I f ind
t hem aest het ically pleasing. I also f ind it hard t o t urn down nice pallasit es, which are as beaut if ul
as st ained glass windows; I wish I had more unique specimens.
(MT ) Does your Family share in your int erest in met eorit es?
(T L) T he overall react ion seems t o be “Well, isn’t t hat f ascinat ing,” and I t ry not t o bore t hem t oo
much wit h met eorit e t rivia! My parent s recall t aking me t o Met eor Crat er as a young child, and t hey
say t hat at age 5 I knew exact ly what caused t he crat er. My husband support s my ent husiasm,
alt hough he is long-suf f ering.
(MT ) Do you have any special approaches t o collect ing? (Type collect ion, only st ones, only irons,
only by aest het ics, et c. or any and all t hat you like.)
(T L) Most of my met eorit es are micro specimens, as my display area is small; I have only a couple
dozen pieces t hat are t oo large t o f it in a 1×1 gem jar. Ot her t han t hat , anyt hing is f air game,
alt hough I’m t rying f or at least one of each specimen t ype.
A very dat ed pict ure of some of my collect ion; it has since more
t han doubled in size.
(MT ) Do you mind saying how many locat ions your collect ion represent s?
(T L) I am lucky enough t o have specimens f rom all 7 cont inent s, and more t han 300 unique f alls or
f inds.
(MT ) Is your collect ion displayed or kept in a dry box or bot h?
(T L) Most of my met eorit es are displayed in shadowboxes, and a couple of convert ed t ypeset t ing
drawers, in individual gem boxes.
(MT ) In what ways do you use your comput er f or met eorit es?
(T L) If it weren’t f or my comput er, I doubt I would have ever got t en st art ed collect ing! My
comput er let s me look at collect ions f rom around t he world, f ind out what is new in t he world of
met eorit es, and converse wit h f ellow collect ors, dealers and scient ist s. I also use a spreadsheet
t o keep t rack of my collect ion, and make labels f or my display.
(MT ) Do you ever hunt f or met eorit es?
(T L) I’d love t o part icipat e in a hunt somet ime, but I’d have t o go some dist ance t o search a
st rewnf ield. T he rocks in Hawaii closely resemble met eorit es, so visual inspect ion is not t oo usef ul;
t he iron cont ent is even high enough t o f ool a met al det ect or looking f or met eorit es. Couple t hat
wit h a climat e t hat is hard on met al, and I wouldn’t have much luck here!
(MT ) What is your f avorit e met eorit e in your collect ion?
(T L) I have several I like. I am very t aken wit h t he weird cryst alline st ruct ure of It qiy. I own a small
piece of Honolulu, one of t wo met eorit es t hat f ell in my st at e. Lunar and Mart ian planet aries are
also f avorit es. And I have several waf er t hin slices of Esquel, and ot her pallasit es.
(MT ) What is your f avorit e overall if it is not t he one above?
(T L) Any of my t hin sliced pallasit es: Quinjingue, Imilac, Pallasovka, Krasnojarsk, Esquel…
(MT ) What makes t hese of special int erest ?
(T L) I f ind t hem beaut if ul, aside f rom t he obvious scient if ic int erest .
(MT ) What met eorit es are current ly on your wish list ?
(T L) Any pallasit es I don’t have now! I’d love t o be able t o af f ord a palm-sized slice of t ranslucent
Esquel, but don’t have t hat t ype of f ree cash.
(MT ) What met hods have been most successf ul in building your collect ion? (Buying at shows, f rom
dealers by mail, auct ions on t he web, t rading… et c)
(T L) I’ve only been able t o at t end one show, but came away f rom it wishing I could go t o more.
Most of my purchases have been f rom ebay, alt hough as I have become more discriminat ing, if I
want a part icular met eorit e I have more luck looking at individual dealers’ st ock. Somet imes I will
sell of f a smaller piece if I upgrade, but since I concent rat e on small pieces t o begin wit h, I don’t
get t o do much t rading.
On a visit t o t he Brit ish Nat ural Hist ory
Museum; Dr. Caroline Smit h is kindly allowing
me t o look at some of t he undisplayed
met eorit e collect ion.
(MT ) Do you also collect relat ed mat erials like impact glasses, breccias, melt s, t ekt it es, shocked
f ossils, nat ive iron rocks et c?
(T L) Yes; several years back I got a select ion of impact breccia and glass f rom Germany in
exchange f or some spare impact it es, and have occasionally bought t ekt it es and ot her impact
relat ed mat erial. I part icularly like a t ranslucent piece of LDG I own.
(MT ) Do you prepare any of your own specimens? (cut , polish, et ch, et c.)
(T L) No; t hat ’s one aspect I’ve never got t en int o. T he only preparat ion I do is t o t ry t o kill
lawrencit e disease wherever it st rikes.
(MT ) Have you had t o t ake any special measures t o prot ect t hem f rom t he environment ?
(T L) All but 2 or 3 of my met eorit es are st ored in gem jars, membrane boxes, or Riker mount s. T his
seems t o prot ect t hem f rom t he worst ravages of our salt air, alt hough t he at mosphere here has
been hard on my et ched irons; I’ve declared a morat orium on buying irons unless I have a nearly
f oolproof way of prot ect ing t hem.
(T L) I am a big advocat e of get t ing kids int erest ed in science, and met eorit es are a good t angible
way t o get t hem st art ed. I’ve given several t alks locally about met eorit es t o element ary and
middle school st udent s, and once t hey realize t hat t he rock t hey are handing around came f rom
out er space, t hey usually are f ascinat ed and t he quest ions f ly. I keep some small specimens of
unclassif ied NWA met eorit es handy t o give out t o int erest ed kids, and have one on my desk at
work. Recent ly I loaned out some of my lunar met eorit es t o a geologist at t he UH Inst it ut e f or
Ast ronomy f or comparison st udies on moon dust f rom t he Apollo missions.
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Meteorite Calendar – February 2010
by Anne Black
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Birthday Meteorites
by Michael Johnson
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Birthday Meteorites
Upper lef t is a 4.02 gram part ially crust ed part slice of Ut recht . T his is an L6 vnd. met eorit e t hat
f ell June 2, 1843 in Ut recht , Net herlands. T KW f or t his met eorit e is 9.7 kgs. and was acquired f rom
Morit z Karl.
Upper right is a 9.6 gram part slice of Meest er-Cornelis. T his is an H5 met eorit e t hat f ell June 2,
1915 in Java, Indonesia. T KW f or t his met eorit e is 24.75 kgs. and was acquired f rom t he Jay Piat ek
collect ion.
Shown below is a 1.75 crust ed f ragment of Buschhof . T his is an L5 vnd. met eorit e t hat f ell June 2,
1863 in Zemgale, Lat via. T KW f or t his met eorit e is 5 kgs. and was acquired f rom Dave Gheesling
t hrough Mike Bandli.
T hanks t o all t hat made it possible f or me t o collect t hese rare birt hday met eorit es of mine!
© Dave Schult z
Images, t ext are Copyright © 1997-2009 ROCKSFROMSPACE.ORG.
No reproduct ion wit hout writ t en permission.
Web design by Michael Johnson of rocksf romspace.org
ROCKS FROM OUT ER SPACE
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Ring Waves And Aerodynamic Flow Lines On Australites
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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 © 2010 James Tobin