The British and Irish Meteorite Society

Hi all,

I really hope you can help. Please look at the pictures attached.

I believe this to be a meteorite.

It has a 1-2mm crust
Is very heavy
A magnet sticks to it
Looks like rock and metal.

I am unable to get it identified by the natural history museum, due to them not having a resident expert. They suggested I post my find on this forum and hopefully someone will be able to give an indication of what they think it is.

Best regards

Emma Swan

Hi Emma, and welcome to the BIMS forum.

I am surprised to read that the NHM does not have a 'resident expert'. They certainly do (several, in fact), but perhaps they no longer answer queries from the public.

My opinion, although likely to disappoint, is that this is not a meteorite. It does not look like any fresh fall that I have seen, and if it was a meteorite that had been buried in the soil for any length of time it would have had a distinctive surface layer of oxidised iron (effectively, rust). I agree that the surface does have a 'molten' appearance, which makes me think it might be a igneous rock, or even a man-made, industrial residue (slag-like). There obviously is iron in there, but many terrestrial rocks contain iron compounds and will attract a magnet. Finally, the interior of the rock looks very homogeneous, which I would not expect if it was a meteorite.

Hopefully other people with chip in with their opinions. In the meantime maybe you could have a browse through the following website to see if you can find anything similar? http://meteorites.wustl.edu/meteorwrong ... wrongs.htm

Regards, Kieron

Hi Kieron,

Thanks very much for the response and will be glad to here more opinions. I had trouble uploading decent photos to this site and following this link will give some clearer images http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today ... ed-uk.html

I have poured through meteor wrongs and rights and really don't know! I understand what you are saying about the rust.

Best regards

Emma

Here is a rock from my collection that has a very similar surface to yours. What do you think?

similar, but this is much smoother, like this https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=angrite&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&imgil=sv5Rb35X6y536M%253A%253Bry-nlbv8rScfYM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.meteorites.com.au%25252Ffavourite%25252Fseptember2008.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=sv5Rb35X6y536M%253A%252Cry-nlbv8rScfYM%252C_&biw=1745&bih=868&usg=__MJw2C6wEgKNhgBhN2pPnlKz3Kg4%3D&ved=0CDgQyjdqFQoTCIib8te18scCFaoM2wodelsNSQ&ei=Vpb0VYiYK6qZ7Ab6trXIBA#imgrc=sv5Rb35X6y536M%3A&usg=__MJw2C6wEgKNhgBhN2pPnlKz3Kg4%3D

It appears to have lots of green crystals when magnified

Hi Emma...I'm afraid I agree with Kieron...it is a dead ringer for industrial slag, the most common meteorwrong that is presented to us...it is a common misconception that meteorites have melted surface and interior like your sample..but in reality very few show such characteristics and only have a very thin surface fusion crust with microscopic flow lines. Crust is usually dark or rusty looking depending on how long it has been on earth, and the interior most often a completely different colour to the crust.

As Kieron says...it does not look like a fresh fall and thus should have rust present if it is an old fall.

However there are no cut and dried rules as more and more there are some very unusual meteorites turning up....but they are so rare that the likelyhood that your stone is a meteorite is very very slim. The only way to really find out is to have it tested for Nickel as a first step...if it had Nickel in with the metal then there is much more of a chance it could be a meteorite. You can get Nickel allergy test kits from some chemists...you could file a small area to get at fresh interior and apply the test...if you get a bright pink reaction then further tests are worth doing.

They would need to be done at willing university that has experience with meteorites.

Hope that helps Emma.

Graham