paulmc80 Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 hi all i am new hear and a bricklayer by trade , i havnt got a single clue about space rocks , but to cut a long story short , 5 years ago i was out detecting in england looking for old coins in a farmers field and came across this metal rock , 3 years ago i sent some pics of it to the NHM London to see what it was , febuary this year they got back in touch and said send us a sample and we will test it for you , march they recieved the specimens , well on the 18 of this month i recieved an email saying they could not dismiss it as a meteorite as they did with other samples , so it might be a meteorite after all , i will upload a pic of the emails from NHM London and a couple of pics of the rock itself , if it is a meteorite , can anyone on hear help me identify what type it is , it weighs 260 grams , it has a density of 7.7 i think , measurements are , L 50 mm x W 40mm x H 25mm reducing. it has orange / brown / greenish glassy looking things when viewed in sunlight , a magnet is strongly attracted to it , and it has started to crack and flake slightly over the years , any help or advice is welcome . regards , paul . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 hear are some zoomed in photos , the best i can get sorry , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 couple more zoomed in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardtimehermit Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 (edited) Have you tried a streak test, take your suspect and rub it back and forth on some unfinished tile surface. An example you could use the under side of your toilet lid, of you don't have another option. If you want to spend 20 bucks sent it to New England Meteorite lab. They can test for nickel and only takes about a week. Good luck! So Paul, the point of the streak test is to see what if any color marks does your suspect leave on the tile surface. You are hoping for close to no marks left, but if you are seeing red or black you could have magnetite or hematite. Edited July 29, 2018 by hardtimehermit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 yes i tried the streak test and it left no marks, had i 5 years and must have looked at every meteorwrong there is , i am waiting for the natural history museum london to test it for me , and as you can see by the email of them its a bit confusing , i dont actually no if they have tested it for nickle yet , they are taking an awfully long time and dont reply to emails , is there any were else in england that can test these type of rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisski Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 I think you are lucky to have a university test it. Long before I became interested in rocks, you could send it to the local university and they would test it, but not anymore. By the time I got interested, the university's website says they don't test them, and won't acknowledge it if you send them a sample. In the states some jewelry stores and pawn shops have a pricey device, name escapes me, to test for metals for instant results. Some will do it for free, others may charge, and others may not do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Strutton Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Hi Paul. I use a saturated solution of dimethylglyoxime to test for Ni content. It's pretty reliable. The right chemical supply company should be able to fix you up with some. Carlos at Adchemco Scientific here in Tucson was generous to give me enough powdered DMG to make a little batch. (Thanks again, Carlos.) Just put a couple drops of the solution on a cotton swab and rub it on the suspect for a minute. If it contains Ni, it will turn the swab pink or even red. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayray Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 As with any photos it is pretty hard to tell if something is or is not a meteorite, but from what I see it doesn’t appear to be one. The outside just doesn’t look right, in my opinion. Now that being said, getting it tested is a good start. Have any other rites been found in the area? Or relatively close by to be a part of that? There doesn’t seem to be any Thumb prints or regmaglypts, and what appears to be fusion crust looks off too. I’m hoping I’m wrong as Opinions are like belly buttons, everyone have one. Good luck, and keep looking down. Jason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 12 hours ago, Jayray said: As with any photos it is pretty hard to tell if something is or is not a meteorite, but from what I see it doesn’t appear to be one. The outside just doesn’t look right, in my opinion. Now that being said, getting it tested is a good start. Have any other rites been found in the area? Or relatively close by to be a part of that? There doesn’t seem to be any Thumb prints or regmaglypts, and what appears to be fusion crust looks off too. I’m hoping I’m wrong as Opinions are like belly buttons, everyone have one. Good luck, and keep looking down. Jason thanks jason , as for the pics there not very good to be honest , they look good when i take em , look crap when i upload them . no other meteorites have been found in the area , what explains it density and weight then , there are a couple of small balls pocking out of the surface as well ( not saying they are chondrules ) , and what are the brown/green / orange crystals imbedded in the shiney bright metal , and why is it starting to crack and flake slightly . so many questions , not enough answers , i will try and get hold of a decent camera as well , upload some better pics in next few days , cheers , paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munroney Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 It seems fairly small if it were to be a 260g chondrite. I would guess some type of slag or something more dense than chondrites. If you used a common household magnet that had a strong pull, then probably not a meteorite. I suggest either putting a window in it, or doing a bulk density test to determine how many grams/Cm cubed. Here are some instructions on how to do that. http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/density.htm hope that helps, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up 😅 I haven’t studied many pallasites but they are more dense than chondrites and contain crystals. A window would clearly show that. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 so , nobody knows what it is then , its not terrestial (the natural history museums mineral experts would of picked up on it ) and its not alien , so what the hell is it . boggled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedrock Bob Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 If it is free metallic iron there is only two possibilities. An artifact or a meteorite. Both will contain nickel so a nickel test does not eliminate anything. Since it is obviously not a mineral, mineral experts would have very little luck identifying it. No surprise there. It certainly does not look like a meteorite. The surface looks like it is shaling just like an artifact and not like a meteorite. It does not have a fusion crust nor regmaglyphs which are very common in meteorites. Honestly I don't see any mystery at all. Nothing points to it being a meteorite and it resembles a very rusted piece of earthly metal. That is exactly what I would say it is based on the info given. It is very certainly a terrestrial iron object until it is proven otherwise. That is just the way it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikestang Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I have to agree with Bob's assessment, some sort of ore perhaps, looks to be water-worn smooth. It does not display any traits of a meteorite that I can see from the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munroney Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I agree with bob and mike but I would hate to disregard a meteorite solely because “it doesn’t have any traits” of one. I’ve seen many meteorites that have zero fusion crust and no regmaglypts. There’s a reason that meteorites with these traits generally sell for more-because not all meteorites have them. If you want a better idea of what it is, put a small window in it. Considering it has no surface features of a meteorite, this will not devalue it. You might lost a fraction of a gram, but worth it if you want an answer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munroney Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Heres a picture of a Mesosiderite. Sharp edges, no fusion crust and certainly no signs of any regmaglypts. Would definitely hate to toss that one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 8 hours ago, munroney said: Heres a picture of a Mesosiderite. Sharp edges, no fusion crust and certainly no signs of any regmaglypts. Would definitely hate to toss that one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted August 7, 2018 Author Share Posted August 7, 2018 On 8/4/2018 at 1:57 AM, munroney said: Heres a picture of a Mesosiderite. Sharp edges, no fusion crust and certainly no signs of any regmaglypts. Would definitely hate to toss that one do mesosiderites have troilite in them , troilite is non magnetic. after trying a rear earth magnet on the rock the top bright metalic area is non magnetic , the whole rock is only mildly magnetic , the magnet slips of the top slightly , different areas seem more magnetic than others, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted August 11, 2018 Author Share Posted August 11, 2018 N.H.M. London have said they will tell me what it is on the 12 september , does anyone know why they take so long , i thought it would only take a week or two to test a suspected meteorite ?? they have had it nearly 5 months now , anyone got an explanation ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisski Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 The labs just receive too many samples. You're lucky in your country they will ID it for free. In ours the universities receive so any samples I think they just throw them away. There's quintillions of rocks lying on earth's surface,. and with the popularity of meteor shows many strange or even normal ones get sent up to be analyzed. At least in the universities, these guys did this on their own free time, but they had all the other work they were actually paid to do. There's the strangest rocks being posted hoping they were meteorites. If you look at this forum you'll see things like guys posting pictures they found of rocks on the ground after the lunar eclipse thinking it was a meteor. Way too many non-meteors being sent in to be tested. To my totally uneducated eye, It looks like a rock I've seen in AZ occasionally that is silverish on the inside, but has the dark looking crust on the outside. The ore I'm thinking of is non conductive, but I thing nickel would be conductive. I've seen it mostly along the back roads where a road had to be dug and the silverfish ore is exposed at the surface. Supposedly there's some places you can pay to get a meteor ID much quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Strutton Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 New England Meteoritical Services will test up to three samples within 3 days for $35 or within 10-14 days for $25. http://www.meteoritetesting.org/Submitting a sample.htm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmc80 Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 18 hours ago, Tom Strutton said: New England Meteoritical Services will test up to three samples within 3 days for $35 or within 10-14 days for $25. http://www.meteoritetesting.org/Submitting a sample.htm samples are being sent , thanks for the link , i will post the results as soon as i get them 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Strutton Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Good luck, Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Good luck from me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deserthoundaz Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 I'm just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinyRocks Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Im hoping someone can help me with this it was a solid piece shaped like a warped twinky wit swirls like the van gogh painting and had fusion crust the front end was about a quarter inch thick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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