Ensisheim! - Meteorite

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Meteorite-Times Magazine
Ensisheim! The King of Meteorites
by Martin Horejsi
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Updated: Martin Horejsi’s Meteorite Books Website
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A November 1492 Witnessed Fall: Ensisheim, France
Ensisheim! The King of Meteorites
Born in 1492. Christened in 1727. Baptized in 1881.
T he part icular collect ing genera in which I haunt is t he int ersect ion
bet ween science, cult ure and t he f all of a met eorit e. Using t his
epist emological t riangulat ion, no ot her met eorit e is as import ant as
Ensisheim, t he King of Met eorit es.
Ensisheim.
T he name alone conjures up t he immense dept hs t hat met eorit es hold in our cult ure. For t hose
new t o t he f ield of met eorit ics, t he hamlet of Ensisheim, France is a spirit ual almost myt hical land.
Ensisheim, bot h t he st one and t he t own, are a physical connect ion wit h our past on eart h and our
evolut ion in t he Solar Syst em. For me t here is no great er t reasure wit hin a met eorit e collect ion
t han Ensisheim.
T he st ory as usually t old is t hat short ly bef ore noon on November 7, 1492, a met eorit e f ell in a
f ield just out side t he walled cit y of Ensisheim in Alsace. T he only wit ness was a young boy who
saw t he single st one punch it self a met er deep int o what is now t he rich soil of t he east ern French
count ryside.
When t he cit izens of Ensisheim learned of t he f all, many people want ed t heir own souvenir of t he
event in t he f orm a f ragment chipped f rom t he main mass. As t he crowds descended on t he
helpless st one, t he Chief Magist rat e t ook charge and st opped f urt her dest ruct ion. T he st one was
set at t he door of t he Ensisheim church where it s f ame was soon magnif ied.
On November 26t h, t he “King of t he Romans” King Maximilian arrived in Ensisheim t o consult
privat ely wit h t he st one. Several days lat er, Maximilian declared t he met eorit e t o be a wonder of
God, and t hen chipped of f t wo small pieces of wonder, one f or himself and one f or his f riend
Archduke Sigismund of Aust ria.
King Maximilian gave t he st one back t o t he good cit izens of Ensisheim st at ing t hat it should be
preserved in t he parish church as evidence of God’s miracles. T he st one was suspended f rom t he
church’s choir lof t along wit h an of f icial cit y record describing t he event .
T hen 500 years went by while ot her st uf f happened.
Today, in t he Cit y Hall of Ensisheim, t he 53.831kg main mass is prot ect ed by t he Brot herhood of
Saint -Georges of t he Guardians of t he Met eorit e of Ensisheim.
T he rough edge of my slice, I like t o believe, carries wit h it t he dust of
ages and maybe t he f ingerprint s of King Maximilian or Wolf gang von
Goet he or Ernst Florens Friedrich Chaldni in addit ion t o t hose of my
daught er and son.
So much has happened t o t his met eorit e f or so many years, and
given Ensisheim’s head st art in t he race t hrough t ime is so great , no
ot her t hunderst one can ever cat ch it let alone surpass Ensisheim’s
reign as t he King of Met eorit es.
It is easy t o see t hat t he global circulat ion of Ensisheim will never meet collect ing demands.
However, we must remember t hat t hose who walked bef ore us in t he lat e 1400s, 1500s, 1600s,
1700s, 1800s, and 1900s cared f or t he Ensisheim specimens allowing t heir cont inued collect ion
t ransit ions well int o t he 21st cent ury. But will we do t he same? T he Brot herhood of Saint -Georges
of t he Guardians of t he Met eorit e of Ensisheim can only do so much.
Every cent ury and likely every year, specimens of Ensisheim have grown smaller and smaller,
whet her by int ent , accident , or at t rit ion. Now 518 years int o Ensisheim’s st ay on eart h, we are st ill
f ight ing t he same human avarice t hat disgraced t he init ial Ensisheim mass int o half it s original size.
As an LL6 chondrit e (I choked on t he word ordinary) Ensisheim carries
wit h it cosmic t ales in addit ion t o it s eart hly ones.
For me, not hing says impact and melt as well as a brecciat ed river.
When t he Ensisheim met eorit e was lovingly bat hed in warm soapy wat er in 1881, it was a t urning
point in met eorit e science, met eorit e cult ure, and essent ially was t he symbolic bapt ism of a
met eorit e t o save t he soul of Ensisheim.
Alt hough t he cit y of Ensisheim was deep in debt t hrough polit ical expendit ures including t he
building of a bridge, t he wisdom of t he ages held out and t he main mass of Ensisheim was not
sold of f t o a museum collect ion. Not t hat museums aren’t appropriat e places f or such t hings, it ’s
just t hat once t he pride and ident it y of an ent ire cit y and it s people are ref lect ed t he preservat ion,
at all cost s, of a singular art if act t hat can never have an equal, t he polit icians bickering and
post uring over a budget sheet must look elsewhere t o f ill t heir cof f ers.
For if it were not f or t he great people of Ensisheim, t he King of Met eorit es would, if just lucky,
occupy it s own glass case in a museum somewhere. My guess is t hat if Ensisheim had been sold
int o museum servit ude, it would have been f urt her violat ed int o a display hemisphere devoid of
t he great ness it now possesses sit t ing at op it s t hrone just a st one’s t oss f rom where it landed
over half a millennium ago.
Ironically, it is t o pay homage t o t he Great Ensisheim t hat many cross t he bridge int o t he t own
complet ely unaware t hat t he very over-wat er pat hway t raveled on t heir pilgrimage could have
been t raded f or t he King of Met eorit es.
An odd scar is is visible on t he smallest of t he cut edges. I suspect it
was f rom an unpadded caliper st and where t his slice lived f or some
t ime on display. And when t alking about Ensisheim, “some t ime” could
be cent uries!
T he longest cut edge of t he slice shows more of t he wonderf ul melt
rivers meandering along t his narrow piece of hist ory wit h t he same
dignit y as if it were f lowing across a polished f ace.
Graphic used wit h permission.
At t he spring 1881 meet ing of t he Geological Societ y of t he Upper Rhine, t he st one of Ensisheim
was removed f rom t he Cit y Hall and brought t o an Inn in Gebweiler named T he Golden Angel. T he
main mass was showing more it s neglect t han it s age being “encrust ed wit h a cent uries-old
accumulat ion of dust and dirt .” T he geologist s bat hed t he st one in warm, soapy wat er scrubbing it
clean.
At a Societ y dinner served wit h t he f amous Alsat ian wine known as t he Knight of Alsace, Prof essor
Knop of Karlsruhe cont inued a t radit ion st art ed by Sebast ian Brant by reading a poem about
Ensisheim aloud t o t he group. T he wonderf ul verses present ed below chronicles t he almost 400
year hist ory of t he Ensisheim met eorit e at t hat t ime.
T he Met eorit e of Ensisheim
Fallen on 7 November, 1492
Sonambulent is everlast ing space
T here wanders t imelessly a met eorit e,
Planet -st ruck, in it s dreams
T he numbers of it s brot hers pull it along.
In t he black-ref lect ed light ,
It perceives in ult imat e dist ance
T he wine-cheered f ace of eart h.
It can no longer rest rain it self ,
So long has been t he wait ,
In t he cold of out er space,
Already f rozen int o cryst als,
Now it wishes t o change it s place.
Filled wit h great desire
It scent s, and hesit at es no longer,
T he Knight let of Elass.
T he at t ract ion is t remendous
And it speeds up in it s course;
As soon as it ent ers t he at mosphere
It is slowed wit h a t hunderclap.
Enveloped in heat and shock
In it s headlong f light , it plunged
One met er deep in t he soil.
From Ensisheim t o t he Vosges
T he message spread at once
T hat a st ony guest has arrived
Which had f allen f rom t he sky.
Also Maximilian came,
Accompanied by his advisors
Favorably disposed t oward science
He discussed t he meaning wit h his council.
T hereupon, he cut wit h might y st rokes
Two pieces f rom t he dark st one
And as t rue evidence of a sign f rom heaven
He coolly pocket s t hem.
He spoke: “You shall t ake good care of t he st one,”
To t he burghers of Ensisheim,
“It will bring luck and blessing,
To your communit y.”
In memory of his words
T hey t ook t he promising f ind
And hung it in t he church of t hat place
And t wo hundred and sixt y pounds.
And t here it hung along in piece
Unt il t he priest , overwhelmed wit h f ear,
Saw in it here on t his eart h,
T he devil himself .
T he st one, admired and chipped at ,
Insult ed and jeered at ,
T hat had been diminished t o half it s size,
Was t ransport ed int o t he cit y hall;
Here it lay in an alcove
St ripped of t he church’s blessing,
An angel bound and imprisoned
For almost 400 years.
Unt il now a company of geologist s
From here in t he upper Rhine
Carried it t o Gebwiler
And checked int o t he Golden Angel,
T hey held a lect ure and session
On t he nat ure of t he region,
Wit h research on t he t ime scale,
And on an excursion t hey went .
And when t he ‘Cock’ crowed
About t he coral-met eorit e of Hungary,
Alt hough wit h crying and bickering
T he one f rom Ensisheim was shown,
T hus spake t he st one: If Eozoon
Had not disappeared
T he glorious Cock, who had f ound it ,
Would have recovered it .
T he geologist at once recognized,
Wit h t heir st one-f riendly eye
In him a close relat ive
And t hey mourned his hard f at e.
Wit h wat er, wit h soap and brushes,
T hey scrubbed him t horoughly
And rest ored t o splendor
T he “Prince of t he Sky.”
Now t he st one showed openly it s ident it y,
As a brecciat ed chondrit e;
Pyrrhot it ie grains and nickel-iron
Olivine and chrome-magnet it e
And wit h met allic lust er,
T he st one opened it s eye
And f aced at t he Round Table
T he incomparable Knight let .
T he st one would have loved t o st ay wit h us
But it had t o be guarded very well,
Torn f rom it s lover’s heart s
It was brought back t o it s old imprisonment ;
T here it is st ill await ing salvat ion
For a call f rom Berlin-it would mean,
In view of t he public t reasury,
For bot h a great prof it .
It would be released f rom it s misery,
T he injust ice of hist ory revenged
T he cit izen would be delivered f rom his debt s;
And Maximilian’s prophecy would be right .
And t he lit t le black f ellow
Once banished as a devil
Would be t ransf ormed as a Golden Angel
For t he benef it of Ensisheim.
I’m looking f orward t o t he day when anot her banquet celebrat es t he King of Met eorit es and a
poem is read t o 21st cent ury people. T he poem, f illed wit h words f rom hist ory as well as t hose
f rom our modern world, relives t he elegance of t he past while gracef ully t ransit ioning t o our
int ernet -connect ed responsibilit ies t o Ensisheim.
In t he end, all we can do is say t hank you cit izens of Ensisheim. T hank you f or caring about
generat ions you would never meet . T hank you f or sharing your honest words wit hout f ear a more
scient if ically lit erat e societ y would scorn your belief s. And t hank you f or saving t he King.
Unt il next t ime….
T he Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and f eedback. accretiondesk@gmail.com
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Franconia Vacation 2010
by Jim Tobin
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I decided t his year t hat I would not work right up t o t he day bef ore we lef t f or vacat ion. So
Sat urday was my last day of work and I got t o do some rest ing up and leisurely packing bef ore we
headed t o t he desert on Wednesday morning. Paul arrived just about exact ly when we had
planned and we st art ed t oward Franconia. We have hunt ed t he sout h side of t he Franconia
st rewnf ield several t imes and never f ound a st one. We have had much bet t er luck on t he Nort h
side of t he st rewnf ield each f inding several. But , as I indicat ed last mont h we were not going on
vacat ion t o really hunt hard. But t o rest and recuperat e f rom work , recline in lounge chairs and
wat ch t he planes f ly over.
Pict ure shot f acing east f rom our camp t oward t he hills of
Palo Verde Mine
Handheld phot o at 18x wit h my Nikon of passenger jet .
We got some gas in Barst ow and had lunch at t he same t ime. T hen it was a rout ine drive across
t he Mohave Desert . We pulled of f t he int erst at e at t he Franconia of f ramp and int ended t o head
over t o t he middle of t he sout h side of t he st rewnf ield where we usually have camped in t he past .
We got a ways down t he dirt road and it was clear t hat t hey had considerable wat er come t hrough
t he washes. T here was f airly deep sand across t he bot t oms of some of t he washes and we
decided t hat it was saf er and smart er t o just go back a lit t le and camp on t he west side of t he
st rewnf ield inst ead. So we headed sout h down t he main dirt road t o a spot where t here was a
large pat ch of desert pavement we could pull of f on and get pret t y f ar f rom t he road. We want ed
t o avoid as much dust as we could since we were really f ocusing on ast ronomy t his t ime out . Dirt
and dust are bad on our equipment . We were able t o get a couple hundred f eet f rom t he road and
t here is so lit t le t raf f ic t hat it was a f ine spot t o camp.
T he weat her t he f irst night was great not a cloud in t he sky. I had my camera adapt er rig I had
worked up all ready t o t ry out . T he Moon was not yet f irst quart er so it was going t o be good f or
phot ograph all t he night s we were t here. Full Moon and near f ull are much less int erest ing t o view
and phot ograph since t he light hit st raight on and lit t le det ail is not iceable. But , I had a great crat er
rich edge t o shoot each night .
T hursday morning it was up early and go hunt ing bef ore it got really hot . We had expect ed t hat
t he t emperat ure would be in t he 80′s as it usually is in mid Oct ober. But it was going t o be 100
degrees and we decided t o hunt just 3-4 hours. We knew our chances f or Franconia met eorit es
was poor wit h all t he work t hat has been done on t he sout h side gridding every area. We were
camping sout h of t he real st rewnf ield so we were really doing new exploring. One piece of desert
t o cold hunt is as good as anot her when it is t he desert pavement t ype det ect ing we were doing.
We f ound our normal select ion of bullet s and wire and bit s of lead and rust ed manmade iron. No
met eorit es were discovered. But , f un was had and we were not in t he of f ice at work.
In t he af t ernoon clouds st art ed t o roll up around us. It is int erest ing how t he clouds f orm t here in
t he Franconia area. We have seen it many t imes. T he clouds will circle t he area hugging t he
mount ains all around and t hen as night comes t hey will move across over Franconia. We got t o do
no ast ronomy on T hursday night . We st ayed inside wat ched a movie and had popcorn. We worked
wit h t he pict ures t aken t he night bef ore. I am using on t he t elescope my older Nikon wit h a f ixed
ext ernal lens. I have an af ocal adapt er t hat I made f or connect ing and keeping t he eyepiece of t he
scope and t he camera lens aligned and cent ered over each ot her. I can st ill use t he t elephot o
range of t he camera t o remove t he darkening t hat shows in t he corners of t he f rame on wide
angle set t ings. Neit her Paul or I have equat orial mount s right now f or our scopes so exposure
t imes have t o be short . And wit h t his af ocal arrangement t he magnif icat ions used are signif icant
and movement of t he image across t he f rame is very not iceable. Fort unat ely, t he Moon shoot s
almost like a daylight object as f ar as apert ure and shut t er set t ing go. T he sharpness is bet t er at
t he f ast shut t er of 1/15t h second but t he sat urat ion and overall color of t he shot is bet t er at 1/8t h.
It is sort of a balancing act . I act ually went ont o aut o and used t he program capacit y of t he
camera t o do most of t he shot s on Friday evening. But , I jump ahead a lit t le.
T his is a 1/8 second exposure using an of f axis mask of 3
inch diamet er wit h no t racking and a very unst able
at mosphere. I st ill like it .
Friday morning, we had breakf ast and sat out side in t he shade and worked hard on doing not hing
t ill mid-morning. We read books. Paul had some comput er programming books and I brought an old
book on st one rings of t he Brit ish Isles. Paul got a lesson on plain and recumbent st one circles and
barrow mounds and he could probably have lived all t he rest of his lif e wit h out learning about
t hem. But , t hey have been a f ascinat ion f or me f or years. We moved our lounge chairs like t he
shadow of a sundial. When t here was nowhere t o be in shade anymore we went inside unt il t here
was shade on t he ot her side of t he mot or home. We had some work t o do and brainst orming t o do
so we t ook care of t hat while t here was no shade. T hen it was more veg t ime t ill evening and we
set up f or sunset shot s again. I set up t he t elescope once more f or more Moon pict ures. We had
caught a f ew pict ures of Jupit er on Wednesday night and looked at all our regular f avorit es. A nice
select ion of galaxies, nebulas, clust ers, and a comet rounded out t he f irst night we were t here.
But , t he big surprise was while we were looking at one sat ellit e go over we saw anot her on a near
“collision” heading and t hat one f lared very bright ly f or a couple seconds. I always f orget t o look up
t he iridium f lare opport unit ies bef ore going t o t he desert . We accident ally got t o see a really nice
one.
Af t er get t ing more Moon pict ures I put t he scope next t o t he mot orhome and we wat ched anot her
movie, wit h plans t o t urn in rat her early so we could get up and hunt met eorit es f or a f ew hours in
t he morning coolness. We decided pret t y early in t he t rip t hat we would drive back t o Bart ow and
st ay at our f avorit e campground. It short ens t he t rip back on Sunday, let s us t ake a shower, get a
hot meal and have wif i t o cat ch up on email and t he met eorit e list . So we were going t o hunt t ill
around 12 noon and t hen go get lunch at t he t ruck st op near Franconia. We drove part way down
t he road t o as near as we could get t o t he west side of t he st rewnf ield and planned t o hike and
hunt int o t he known met eorit e yielding area. We act ually had co-ordinat es f or t he locat ion of John
Wolf e’s f irst f ind so I headed t hat way t o st and on t he very spot . I f igured t here would be a
monument of some kind and t here was. We have GPS t racks f or everywhere we have hunt ed and
a small area of t he west side of t he st rewnf ield was st ill unhunt ed by us so we hunt ed nort h of
John’s f irst f ind and up t oward t he railroad t racks. We looped around and came back t o t he mot or
home. No met eorit es were recovered again, but anot her area is of f our list .
T his is t he lit t le monument of rocks at t he locat ion of John
Wolf e's f irst f ind of a Franconia met eorit e
As I was heading f or t he locat ion of John’s f irst f ine I passed some let t ers made of rocks next t o
t he road. RM, I wonder who made t hem was it one of our met eorit e f riends who has t hose init ials. I
don’t know I will ask him when I see him.
I picked up plent y of nice rocks f or making jewelry. I have over t he years been picking up t he lime
green rock t hat is scat t ered all over t he sout h side. As I was walking back t oward t he mot orhome I
f ound one of t he sources. T here was a vein erupt ing t o t he surf ace of t he green rock surrounded
by a low mound of granit e. I could not help myself and t ook a chunk of t he rock. It should give me a
supply of t he pret t y green st uf f t o last f or a long t ime. Of course I also f ound a lot more 50 caliber
bullet s and ot her st uf f , and one myst ery signal t hat I could not separat e out in t he f ield. I spent
about 10 minut es t rying t o f ind what was making t he det ect or go of f so st rongly. I f igured it was a
piece of lead shot or casing brass. But I could not see it in t he dirt . It was not magnet ic, and having
f ound a lit t le gold in t he past and knowing it is hard t o recognize when covered in dirt I brought t he
whole sample in a baggy back home. I washed it out a f ew minut es ago and t hough I knew
Franconia was not really a gold det ect ing area I had hoped it might be a small nugget . Well it was
a piece of lead just like one would expect . So old t hat it was really incrust ed in whit e lead oxide. It
was not gray anymore at all.
As always we f illed t he week wit h lot s of t hings t o do and also had some great t ime out hunt ing
f or met eorit es. Can hardly wait f or t he next t ime we can get away f or vacat ion. I guess t hat will be
Tucson in February, t hough t hat is a working t rip it is always f un t oo.
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IMCA Insights – November 2010
by IMCA TEAM
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IMCA Insights – November 2010
Munich Mineral Show 2010
by Martin Altmann
Aut umn – t ime f or t he big Munich Show.
Toget her wit h Tucson t he marker, t he indicat or f or t he met eorit ical course of t he f ollowing year.
Warm f all winds best owed days of sun and pushed t he panorama of t he Alps closer t o t he cit y. Full
of expect at ions and pleasant ant icipat ion, having 70 exhibit ors list ed wit h met eorit es in mind, t he
visit or ent ered t he halls. T hough t he longer he walked t hrough t he rows of t ables, t he sharper he
pressed t oget her his pupils f or his hunt ing scheme: dark, brown, black, amorphous, lumpy, not
colorf ul, not shiny – t he more perplexit y crawled up his back. And t he darker t he clouds got over
t he horizon.
Count ryside near Munich, early morning Phot o court esy
Hanno St ruf e
Where are t he met eorit es?!?
Wit h t his out cry as t it le and as a résumé t he Munich report 2010 would be complet ely done.
To give any impressions, we have t o t ake leave f rom comparing wit h t he shows of t he previous
years.
So let ’s st art wit h t he irons.
T he vet eran iron, t he Campo of earlier decades, when “met eorit e” was a synonym f or Gibeon, has
af t er 10 years of prohibit ion f ully disappeared. T he last small box of t he world wit h a f ew rough
specimens was f ound at t he t able of Granddaddy Karl Sprich. Prices quadrupled f rom t he t imes,
Gibeon st ill was f ree.
Sikhot e-Alin is exhaust ed: 4-5 small f lat s wit h small shrapnels, and prices higher t han t hose early
ones, when you st ill could pick out handf uls of bullet s, but t ons, drops, propellers burst ing of f low
lines by t he dozen f rom such boxes. Only t hree somewhat larger pieces on t he whole show.
T he st alls of all our Russian f riends t oget her shrunk t o a combined lengt h of 3 yards. On t heir
t ables, as well as on Bohemian Simek’s, we missed almost all we always were used t o seeing:
Brahins, Chingas, Seymchans.
Hanno St ruf e and Dima Sadilenko (Comet shop) Phot o
court esy Hanno St ruf e
Table of Viacheslav Kalachev Phot o court esy Hanno
St ruf e
Gebel Kamil – af t er t he f urious impact in Ensisheim, it seems f ully volat ilized again. Only a f ew
specimens here and t here and a modest box under t he t able. As small comf ort f or t he
disappoint ed collect or, at least a f ew small et ched slices at a very af f ordable 2-3$/g were
available. Morasko? Nil ret urn.
T he only const ant – like on every show – was of course ever-smiling Hans Campo Koser wit h his
hundredweight s of Campo del Cielos in all sizes and shapes. While t he visit or lost his smile, when
he remembered t hat t wo, t hree years ago, st ill ot her prices were not ed on t he price t ags.
Diet er Heinlein, Hans Koser, Hanno St ruf e and Mike Farmer
Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
T he silicat ed NWA-iron wasn’t available anymore in ent ire pieces.
Badly missed were all our Aust ralian f riends.
T he bright spot , t he Davidssons wit h a set of exquisit e Henburys wit h perf ect pat ina and excellent
shapes, some even resembling Sikhot e-Alins. One has t o go f ar back in t ime, t o remember t o have
seen, such an assemblage of such museum-qualit y Henbury.
T he Davidssons had a lot of f irst class Henbury irons f or
sale Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
Iron of t he season was, like last year t oo: Muonionalust a.
All sizes, big, complet e or et ched. Cleaned or wit h yellow f ind pat ina. Cheap! Leprechaun Dima
Sadilenko t ook t he collect or by t he hand t o lead him t o Koser’s st all, where he had t o place a
Muonionalust a, because it was larger t han his t able. A whopping 630kg, big enough t o f ulf ill t he
dream of t aking a ride on a met eorit e.
Let ’s get over and done wit h t he most dismal chapt er: T he desert met eorit es.
Who would not dwell about t he past years, where even t wo out of t hree f ossils dealer hadn’t
enough space on t heir t ables t o place t heir met eorit es by t he box – when he saw t hat disast er of
t hat Munich weekend 2010. Not hing but perhaps 5 or 6 small shoe boxes, f ull of lousy f ragment s.
Beat Booz f rom Swit zerland visit ing Hanno St ruf e at
Ismaily's t able Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
Ismaily and Eva Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
T he best select ion of UNWA OCs was st ill on Ismaily’s t able, he had also t he only (!) useable
orient ed st one lef t of t he whole show wit h it s 1250 exhibit ors. He shared t he t able wit h Hanno
St ruf e, who present ed a nice select ion of various desert t ypes and his LL-met achondrit e t here.
Ahmed Pani belongs t o t he invent ory of t he show, alt hough he’s specialized in hot desert , t his t ime
he had some f ant ast ic dist ort ed Seymchan slices, as t hey would have been cut f rom a shrapnel
wit h olivines t hat popped in t he eye of t he visit or.
Of course t he Tomerellis where t here t oo – t his t ime displaying mainly pre-NWA-OCs of convincing
qualit y, some of t hem shaped like art if act s.
Table of Giorgio Tomelleri Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
But t he award of t he best desert assort ment has t o go t his t ime def init ely t o Ali and Mohammed
Hmani, comf ort ing t o see t hat t he t radit ion is going f rom t he f at her t o t he son t o be cont inued.
Eva and Bernhard looking at Ali Hmani's t able Phot o
court esy Hanno St ruf e
T hey brought t he f ine main mass of t he last years f ind NWA 5960, t he green-skin shergot t it e
paired t o NWA 2990 t o t he show and placed it in t he show case next t o a 118g-lunar f rom t he
2995/2996er-series which is current ly under classif icat ion.
A new lunar f rom Ali Hmani Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
A 21 kilo large CV3 f rom NWA Phot o court esy Hanno
St ruf e
T he 20kg-CV3, which we st ill know f rom Ensisheim was slumbering might y on t he t able. A not yet
ident if ied larger iron f rom t he Ziz-f ield built t he count erpart . From t heir ot her delicacies, a f ine
f resh lunar-looking eucrit e, coming in many individuals is t o ment ion and t hree jewels f rom Wabar.
T he ladies of t he harem must have a lot of sorrow – t he t ears t hey cried were large as grapes!
Novelt ies f rom t he hot desert s?
No new unpaired Mart ians and Lunars at all. No new f inds f rom Oman at all.
Only t hree larger HEDs, one 2kg f resh crust ed eucrit e wit h whit e int erior, a f ragment of 4kg wit h
orient ed regmaglypt es of a HED and anot her polymict one. A small handf ul of ot her HEDs, dif f icult
t o say, which were really new or are lat er t o pair t o already known mat erial.
And – shocking – t hat was all.
Prices? It ’s bet t er t o remain silent , f or not depressing t he reader f urt her.
Now t o give a posit ive t urn: t he of f ers of hist oric f inds and f alls were t his year: excellent .
Eisler junior, t he only dealer aside Mike Farmer, who hadn’t shied away f rom t he long journey f rom
U.S. t his year, had a lot of pallasit e slices and a good variet y of known and not so known names –
f or every purse.
Table of Bud Eisler Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
T he palm, Achim & Morit z Karl t ook it , wit h adjacent Mike Farmer, who made up a museum out of
t heir row. T he Karls, when asked “what ’s new?”, modest as t hey are, answered: “Not hing”. But t he
slices of t he hist orics you saw t here and t he names, drove t ears in t he eyes of t he vet eran
collect ors, let t he beginners hect ically search in t he Blue Book, and t he mid-t erm collect or pause,
t o doubt in t heir belief t hat such names would be available only in molecular sized microspecks.
Impressively t he Karls cement ed once again t heir posit ion as dealers # 1 of hist oric pieces. Mike
Farmer’s best new goodies were some Springwat ers f rom his new f inds, among t hem a really cut e
perf ect individual.
Mort en Billet at t he t able of Achim Karl Phot o court esy
Hanno St ruf e
Achim and Morit z Karl's met eorit es Phot o court esy Hanno
St ruf e
T he same line of remarkable hist orical locales f ollowed as always Sergey Vasiliev. His advant age
is, t hat he has always many budget -sizes t oo. Remarkable t his t ime, a well-sized f usion-crust ed
Ivuna, usually horribly dif f icult t o get .
Table of Sergey and Elena Vasiliev Phot o court esy Hanno
St ruf e
Posit ively t o remark, was t his years enlarged availabilit y of Impact it es and t ekt it es. Finally again
black indochinit es of all sizes and shapes were basket -wise of f ered (<30$/kg). And also t he choice
of moldavit es was bet t er t han ever. Here t o ment ion expert T homas Dehner, who also just has
edit ed a new book about moldavit es. Good larger quant it ies, just like last year, of Libyan desert
glass were of f ered t oo.
No good show wit hout out a novelt y.
So as poor as Munich was, at least vet eran dealer Uwe Eger rescued t he event in t his respect t his
year. He displayed ext remely t hin slices of a new pallasit e f rom Indonesia. Wit h st rangely small
orange olivines and almost no met al in bet ween. A f ind of report edly 750kgs – under classif icat ion.
T he new Pallasit e f rom Indonesia present ed by Uwe Eger
Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
T he charact er of Munich 2010 wasn’t only t he lack of met eorit es, but also t he absence of many
met eorit e dealers. Only t wo dealers came f rom USA, t he met eorit e of f erers of Aust ralia and
Poland st ayed complet ely home, and a lot of t he sounding European names were missing: Erich
Haiderer, Alain Carion, Chladni’s Heirs, Siegf ried Haberer, Bruno Fect ay, Luc Labenne, Andi Gren…
Af t er t he Fliegerbräu surprisingly had shut down, Andi Koppelt organized t he Friday Evening Comet oget her in t he t ime-honored inn, t he Fraunhof er, wit h rust ic t radit ional f ood, Munich beer, an
at mosphere of Gemuet lichkeit (and wit h a much bet t er service and prices). It was nice t here,
about 20 met eorit e people t est ed it and were so cont ent , t hat t his new locat ion will be f rom now
on t he new Jour f ix f or t he Munich show.
Francesco Moser, Beat Booz, Pet er Marmet Phot o
court esy Hanno St ruf e
Andreas Koppelt , Jürgen Nauber, Mary and John Kashuba,
Mark Vornhusen Phot o court esy Hanno St ruf e
All in all Munich 2010 was f or t he met eorit e collect or a t rue shock. By f ar t he poorest show f or
met eorit es of t he last 10 years. Nevert heless, Munich, Ensisheim, T ucson remain t he t hree large
MET -event s where t hose int erest ed in t hose guest s f rom space, will get so many met eorit es in
t heir hands like nowhere else. T heref ore t hese t hree Shows will always be wort h t he visit .
Skol.
Martin Altmann
IMCA Director
T his art icle has been edit ed by Anne Black and Norbert Classen
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NWA 4657 CK4
by John Kashuba
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I don’t t hink CK met eorit es are much t o look at except t hose rare slices wit h huge, gnarly CAI. You
pret t y much get dark chondrules in dark mat rix. I have one f airly dense slice t hat someone
polished which made f eat ures essent ially disappear. T hankf ully t hat wasn’t done t o t his slice.
Since t his is a CK4 chondrules are easy t o see scat t ed in t he mat rix. T his view is an
inch wide. NWA 4657.
We see a lot more in t hin sect ion under a ‘scope. T his is an odd shot I made wit h
ref lect ed light plus some light coming t hrough t he sect ion f rom below. It shows quit e a
mix of t ext ures and mat erials in a port ion of a large chondrule. T his pict ure and t he
next show layering f rom mult iple accret ion and heat ing event s.
Large grains are in t he int erior of t he chondrule, around t hem (below) is a rim f ormed
f rom melt . It is peppered wit h opaque blebs. Furt her out (yet lower) are a couple layers
of f ine mineral grains t hen a jacket of dust .
Evidence of t urbulent t imes - f ragment s of broken chondrules.
In t his port rait t he BO chondrule at t he right is missing it s lower right side. T he curved
f ragment in t he pict ure above is a perf ect mat ch in size, shape and even orient at ion.
But it ’s hard t o believe t hey are mat es t hat got separat ed, st ayed close during f inal
parent body assembly and were sect ioned perf ect ly in t his slice. It is even harder t o
believe t hat t hey are not relat ed.
T his is t he object in t he lef t of t he port rait above, a granular olivine chondrule. It
cont ains blebs of opaque mat erial and has a rim of coarse grains.
T his large dif f use f eat ure cont ains a couple round dark areas surrounded by bright
grains.
It would be int erest ing t o know what mechanisms were at work here.
T he bars in t his chondrule are t he same color as t he rim where t hey join it . T hat is,
t hose bars and t hat port ion of t he rim are in opt ical cont inuit y, t he cryst al st ruct ures
are aligned. For example t he bars t hat reach t he rim f rom t he noon posit ion t o one
o’clock are light orange and so is t he rim. To t he right , t he bars t hat t ouch t he rim at
t wo o’clock are green as is t he rim. T his cont inuit y is common. T he f un t hing here is
t hat t his cryst alline orient at ion ext ends beyond t he igneous rim. We see t hat t he
mineral grains t hat were f orming f rom t he surrounding dust or mat rix grew,
“recryst allized”, wit h t heir cryst al mat rix in t he same orient at ion as t he nearby rim and
t he bars on t he ot her side. T his is seen best when t he polarizing f ilt ers are rot at ed
and, f or example, t he green bars, green rim and green speckles beyond go in and out
of opt ical ext inct ion t oget her.
Speaking of rot at ing f ilt ers, t his animat ed GIF st eps t hrough f our pict ures t o emphasis
t he dif f erent cryst al domains in t his sharp chondrule t hrough ninet y degrees of
rot at ion. T he horizont al slide remained st at ionary and a horizont al polarizing f ilt er
above it and a horizont al polarizing f ilt er below it were moved in unison. T he f ilt ers
began and remained wit h t heir direct ion of polarizat ion in a crossed orient at ion t o
each ot her. Consider t he bright , complet ely illuminat ed shot as zero degrees. T he next
pict ure was t aken wit h t he f ilt ers rot at ed (about a vert ical axis) approximat ely 23
degrees. T he next pict ure is af t er anot her 23 degrees. And t he f ourt h af t er a t ot al of
about 68 degrees. At 90 degrees t he view is t he same as t he f irst pict ure, which is
displayed again.
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The Perils of Meteorite Type Collecting, A Guide.
by Michael Gilmer
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T his art icle is direct ed at t he silent newbie or bef uddle beginner who is sort ing t hrough t he
conf using groups of met eorit e t ypes and t rying t o f ind t heir way around t he world of space rocks.
Many new collect ors of t en want one of each t ype of met eorit e. Many vet eran collect ors abandon
t his pursuit because t he t ask is quit e daunt ing. So when you hear t alk about “t ype collect ing”, or
building a “t ype collect ion”, what exact ly does t hat mean?
I hope t he f ollowing brief art icle will answer t hose quest ions, or at least point t he reader in t he right
general direct ion. Not e, I gleaned much of t his t ype inf ormat ion f rom David Weir’s aut horit at ive
websit e “Met eorit e St udies” and f rom t he Met eorit ical Bullet in. I do not claim t hat t his list is 100%
complet e or wit hout error, so if t he reader spot s an error or omission, please reply and correct it .
I st art ed out collect ing met eorit es wit h a small sample of NWA 4293 – an ordinary high iron
chondrit e of t he H6 t ype. It was about t he size of a dog-f ood kibble and it looked like one. But I
was inst ant ly hooked, and I want ed t o have one each of t he dif f erent t ypes of met eorit e. T his is
known as “t ype collect ing” or building a “t ype collect ion”.
T he danger of t ype collect ing (besides t he damage t o one’s checking account ) is t hat t he various
pet rologic t ypes are subdivided int o various grades according t o met amorphism.
For example, t ake t he H chondrit e group t hat my NWA 4293 sample belonged t o.
T here are H3 chondrit es, H4 chondrit es, H5 chondrit es, and H6 chondrit es. Did I really need one
each of t hese subt ypes? Well, it depends on how deep a collect or want s t o go int o t he rabbit hole.
T here are dist inct dif f erences bet ween t he various H t ypes.
T he number at t ached t o each is more t han just a simple weat hering grade or shock grade. It
represent s a progession in t he H-chondrit e f amily f rom least alt ered t o most alt ered. H3
chondrit es are loaded wit h chondrules, H4 have some chondrules, H5 has f ew chondrules, and H6
has virt ually no visible chondrules. A new grade of H7 has been added as well. So, a collect or could
simply have a single Hx chondrit e and say t hat t he H-chondrit es are represent ed. Or, t he collect or
could have one each of t he dif f erent subt ypes f rom 3 t o 7.
Anot her peril is t he changing of nomenclat ure. For example, t he K-subgroup of carbonaceous
chondrit es was only recognized and designat ed in 1990. Up unt il t hen, Karoonda was considered a
CV4 met eorit e of t he Vigarano f amily. Now Karoonda is recognized as dist inct ly dif f erent t ype of
carbonaceous chondrit e, so it was made int o it ’s own group. Now we have CK4, CK5, and CK6
met eorit es – all represent a progression in met amorphism and have visible (and chemical)
dif f erences f rom ot her grades. T here are st andout members of each subgroup, so where does
one draw t he line?
Should t he collect or acquire a sample of Karoonda and be done wit h it ? Or should one go out and
t rack down CK4, CK5 and CK6 met eorit es? Again, it depends on how ext ensive and exhaust ive a
collect or want s t o be wit h t heir t ype collect ion. Budget will also play a role as well, because an
exhaust ive t ype collect ion is a daunt ing project .
Last ly, one must consider t he ungrouped met eorit es. T hese are oddball met eorit es t hat do not
neat ly f it int o t he pre-exist ing met eorit e t ypes. T here are ungrouped chondrit es, ungrouped
achondrit es, and ungrouped irons. No t ype collect ion can overlook t hese met eorit es because
some of t hem are t ypes unt o t hemselves wit h unique qualit ies.
For t hose who want t o build a def init ive and complet e t ype collect ion, here is a list of every known
t ype and subt ype of met eorit e. T his list was culled f rom ot her sources, including David Weir’s
aut horit at ive “Met eorit e St udies” websit e linked at t he end of t his post .
Carbonaceous Chondrites :
CI (Ivuna)
CM1 (Murchison)
CM2 (subdivided int o CM2.0 t o CM2.6)
CM3
CO3 (Ornans) (subdivided int o CO3.03 t o CO3.7)
CV (Vigarano) (also CV2 and CV3)
CK (Karoonda) (CK4, CK5, CK6)
CR (Renazzo) (CR1, CR2, CR3)
CB (Bencubbin)
CH
CR ungrouped
C4 ungrouped
C ungrouped (Tagish Lake, ot hers)
Ordinary Chondrites :
Rumurut i R3 (subdivided int o R3.5-6 t o R3.9)
R4
R5
R6
LL (subdivided int o LL3.0 t o LL3.9)
LL4
LL5
LL5/6
LL6
LL6/7
LL7
LL impact melt
LL t ransit ional (L/LL3 t o L/LL6)
L (subdivided int o L3.0 t o L3.9)
L4
L5
L6
L6/7
L7
L impact melt
H/L t ransit ional (H/L3 t o H/L6 IMB, H/L3.6 t o H/L3-4)
H (subdivided int o H3.0 t o H3.9)
H4
H5
H6
H7
H impact melt
ungrouped ordinary chondrit es
Enstatite Chondrites :
EL (EL3 t o EL7)
EL impact melt
EH/L
EH (EH3 t o EH7)
EH impact melt
ungrouped enst at it e chondrit es
K (Kakangari)
Met a-chondrit es (M-CV, M-CR, M-H, M-LL)
Primitive Chondrites :
Acapulcoit e
Lodranit e
Winonait es
ungrouped primit ive chondrit es
Achondrites :
Howardit e (subdivided int o f ragment al breccia and regolit h breccia)
Eucrit e (monomict and polymict wit h each having subclasses)
Diogenit e (monomict and polymict )
Olivine Diogenit e
Dunit e
Ureilit e (monomict and polymict )
Martian achondrites :
Shergot t it e
Pyroxene-phyric basalt ic shergot t it e
Olivine-phyric basalt ic shergot t it e
Olivine-ort hopyroxene-phyric basalt ic shergot t it e
Pyroxene-peridot it ic (Wehrlit ic) shergot t it e
Lherzolit ic shergot t it e
Diabasic shergot t it e
Nakhlit e
Chassignit e
Ort hopyroxenit e (ALH 84001)
Lunar Achondrites :
Feldspat hic breccias
Regolit h breccia
Fragment al breccia
Impact melt breccia
Granulit ic breccia
Maf ic-rich
T horium-rich
KREEP-rich
Mingled Breccia
Mare Basalt
Other Achondrites :
Angrit es (Plut onic and Basalt ic)
Brachinit e
Aubrit e
ungrouped achondrit es (Ibit ira, Pasamont e, et c)
Stony-Irons :
Mesosiderit es (1A,1B,2A,2B,2C,3A,3B,4A,4B)
ungrouped mesosiderit es
Pallasit es (Main Group, Eagle St at ion group, Pyroxene group)
Pallasit e-am (anomalous, PMG-am, PMG-as)
ungrouped pallasit es
Iron meteorites :
Not e, iron met eorit es are a can of worms. I will only f ocus on t he main chemical groups, and not
t he various grouplet s and sub-t ypes of each main chemical group. Also not e t hat many of t hese
t ypes include silicat ed varit ies. List ing all of t he known sub-t ypes of irons would require a LONG
list resembling a f low-chart .
IAB
IC
IIAB
IIC
IID
IIE
IIF
IIG
IIIAB
IIIE
IIIF
IVA
IVB
ungrouped irons
I t hink t hat is all of t hem – as current ly recognized by t he Met eorit ical Societ y Nomenclat ure
Commit t ee. If anyone can t hink of some I missed, please add t hem t o t his list .
David Weir’s Met eorit e St udies websit e – ht t p://www.met eorit est udies.com/
Best regards and happy collect ing!
© Copyright 2010, Michael Gilmer. (www.galact ic-st one.com)
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Meteorite Calendar – November 2010
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Fell December 13, 1795 Wold Newt on, Yorkshire UK
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FG1 Georgiait e specimen f rom t he Darryl Fut rell Collect ion of Tekt it es
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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