Exposed interior is lighter than the fusion crust. Shiny fusion crust with contraction cracks some crust has chipped off. Shiny fusion crust with contraction cracks. Stone 02. Rounded shape with no sharp edges. Stony meteorites are not as large as many people think. The interior is lighter than the fusion crust. Shiny fusion crust, crust has contraction cracks (the glass cracks as it cools), and some crust has chipped off. In the captions I state the reasons I think the rock is a meteorite. Several are from people who either bought them or inherited someone else’s collection. Only 3 or 4 were from people who claimed to have found them in North America. More than half these photos were sent by persons who found the rocks in deserts of Northern Africa or the Mideast. Probably for less than 1 in 1000 photos have I thought, “Yes, that might be a meteorite.” Meteorites can not be identified from photos with 100% accuracy, but all of photos below are of things I believe to be meteorites with 50-99% confidence. If the result of the nickel analysis is between 2and 20 %, then you are probably the proud owner of an iron meteorite.I have examined thousands of photos that people have sent to me over the past 20+ years. We will carefully examine the sample and send it to a laboratory to obtain the percentage of nickel. If you suspect a rock to be a meteorite because the magnet is strongly attracted and the rock heavy as a piece of iron you have to test the piece for nickel.Īt this point you have to send us a few gram sample explaining how the piece was found, the weight, size, and photos of the suspected meteorite. The nickel is quite rare on earth even in made-man iron (slag), but present in almost all meteorites. If the grinded surface displays small round inclusions and metal flakes then you are probably the proud owner of a stony meteorite. Take a magnifier, a hand magnifying glass is fine, and look between the spheres to identify some tiny metal flakes of iron-nickel.Ĭutting a stone is not easy can be dangerous for fingers, so we recommend a simple test: use sandpaper on the corner of the stone and examine the rubbed face with a magnifier. So, if you cut a rock and discover these tiny spheroids it’s a step in the right direction. The most common meteorites are chondrites because they are composed by chondrules, which are spheroids. If the stone you expect to be a meteorite is attracted by a magnet, before thanking your lucky stars, remember that many earth rocks are also attracted by a magnet. This is why a freshly fallen meteorite will exhibit a black fusion crust.Ĭommonly, meteorites contain a significant amount of iron and nickel, so testing the rock with a magnet is the first step for meteorite hunters. Just after a meteorite falls, the stone tends to appear darker than common terrestrial rocks. During its brief travel through our atmosphere, the surface of the meteorite is melted, as a result the surface of the stone burns and forms a kind of skin (usually dark) called fusion crust. The density of meteorites is quite a bit higher than most others, so a meteorite feels much heavier than almost all ordinary earth rocks (excepted some basaltic stone).Īfter the weight, this is the second reason people think they have found a meteorite. This is the most common reason people think they have found a meteorite. Many of them are common stones found on Earth, such as magnetite, hematite and sometimes man-made piece of iron named slag that have oxidized. Unfortunately from year to year there, only one of these rocks turns out to be a real space rock. The first question is "Did you find a meteorite?"Īs owner of a web site entirely dedicated to meteorites I receive inquiries by email from people who think they have found a meteorite, daily. Here are some simple steps to help you identify a meteorite. Meteorite Identification with pictures, meteorite valueand meteorite classificationindex.
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