Snowmom wanted to see some meteorites

Oldest known thing on Earth.  This is a piece of the Allende meteorite, which is over 6 billion years old predating our own solar system by about 2 billion years.

Miscellaneous

More miscellaneous:

More miscellaneous:

vegasjames I see I have spent over 45 minutes looking at this thread. WOW you have an extensive collection! I hope you have it insured, and that you leave it to a museum in your will. It should be preserved! I love the Sikhote-Alin, no the pallasite, no the wonderful NWA859 TAZA nosecone, no the ones with the chondrules.... so much meteorite glory! Thanks so much for taking the time to photograph these and put them up. I appreciate the time and effort it took to give a glimpse of this great collection. How long have you been collecting meteorites? I feel I have already learned a few things about identifying
meteorites, the photos are so clear and detailed. These are truly amazing, I can see why you collect. Could there be much more fascinating than rocks from outer space? WOW!

That is only maybe a third of my collection.  I have not had time to photograph all my meteorites.  So if I get a chance I will get some more photographed and posted. 

Have three right now in being classified and one suspect meteorite samples that the lab has had for 8 years now.

I have been collecting maybe 9-10 years now.  Started when some friends had seen a meteor come down in Northern Arizona.  They thought that they had found some pieces of it and wanted to know if I wanted to go look for more.  So I started researching meteorites so I knew what I was looking for.  Later ended up buying several hundred pounds of meteorites from an estate sale from a man who helping me to learn about meteorites.  He had a brain tumor he did not tell anyone about, including his daughter.  He thought my suspect meteorite looked martian, which it does.  But it also has some angritic structures in it.  When I found out the lab wanted to send my samples for oxygen isotope analysis I got all excited.  I read that they oxygen isotope analysis is the last test to be run and it only done on rare confirmed meteorites due to times and cost involved.  I went to tell him the great news but he was not there, which is when I found out about his passing.  His daughter was having the estate sale that day, which is when I bought most of them.  Later she sold me some more she had hid from the rock club since they pissed her off by taking equipment they were not supposed to take as part of the sales terms.  But I helped her with the cleanup after the mess they left and so she told me about the other box and sold it to me as well.  Then I later bought the box of Tazas ,and about 70 pounds of Gibeons from her that were immediately sold.  That jump started my collection then I bought or trades for others since.

Great story, vegasjames, it is wonderful that you can continue the work and legacy of your mentor. I can imagine what a shock and sadness it must have been to lose him. Thinking about the suspect meteor... is it taking so long because they really don't want to give it up? I hear horror stories about lab testing taking years... all the recent interest in meteors has overwhelmed the available labs. Meteorite testing might be a great field if someone would go into the field of geology with a specialty. Or would the study of meteorites be space sciences? I would love to see you keep this thread going and post more of your specimens whenever you have the time, inclination, or aquire a new one. Taking photos of your meteorites is good for your records as well in case of loss due to disaster, theft, etc etc etc... proof of identity is important.
Thanks so much for this thread!

Yes, it was a great loss.  He was so willing to help.  I would bring in suspected meteorites I found and he would tell me which ones definitely were not and which ones to get checked out.  And he would let me examine some of his specimens first hand to get a better idea of what I was looking for.  I had one suspected meteorite about the size of a softball I found when I first got in to it.  I studied that thing for 6 months and swore it was a howardite meteorite.  But it was not abnormally heavy and I kept reading meteorites were heavier than the average terrestrial rock.  So I finally took it back to the desert and dumped it.  A few months later I was down in California and Moe pulled out a howardite the size of my first worth I think he said $85,000.  When I held it I said this is light.  Moe said, "yes, they are lighter than the average rock".  I looked all over for the one I threw back in the desert but never found it again.  Now I am much more careful and pay attention to the fact that there are always exceptions to the rule.

I am also more careful about trusting the so-called "experts" after I sent a large chunk of another suspected meteorite to a well known meteorite hunter.  The piece was full of olivine and iron-nickel.  When I contacted him to see what he thought he said he had thrown it away since it was not magnetic.  First of all not all meteorites are magnetic.  But more importantly this stone was very magnetic.  That was the first thing I checked.  He must have got it confused with some other rock he was testing or something.

As for the samples at the lab they only have two samples (48g) total.  I have 400 pounds.  Payment for the testing are the samples.  Usually 20g or 20% if total weight is under 100g.  I sent two samples because by the naked eye they looked nothing alike, but they were the same exact stone.  I believe one was shock darkened.  So I sent them the two samples and told them to examine them under the microscope to see what I meant about these being the same stone.

The delay is that they do not have the equipment to do the oxygen isotope analysis, which allows the to figure out what the parent body is supposed to be (asteroid belt, Mars, the moon, etc.).  They wanted to send it to the local university for them to do the test, but they have their own samples that get priority.  So my samples are kind of in limbo.

The samples are pretty much worthless to them as what I have is worthless to me until the samples get an official classification.  This will state exactly what type of meteorite it is, which is one of the big things that affects value.

The study of meteorites is a very specialized field.  Many of the minerals are common in geology as where others are specific to meteorites.  And there are traits such as regmaglypts and fusion crusts that are also specific to meteorites.

I should also add to be careful when handling meteorites. If you find a suspected meteorite don't pick it up with your hand. Use a plastic bag. You don't want sweat, sunscreen, etc. contaminating the specimen before analysis.

Researchers also prefer that you do not apply a magnet to the whole piece since they are also testing magnetic fields in the meteorites. Instead apply the magnet to a small piece broken or cut off.

When cutting suspected meteorites NEVER cut them with oil since this not only contaminates the specimen but can also be impossible to get back out of stone or stony-iron meteorites. Use clean water. I also rinse them with distilled water afterward then dry them immediately by putting them out in the sun if hot outside or under a lamp with an adjustable head so I can get the bulb close to the specimen. Some people use their ovens at a low heat setting.

If cutting an already tested and classified meteorite then some people will dip the slice in denatured alcohol to help remove some water before drying. I don't do this with specimens to be tested again to avoid contamination.