subject: Find and Recognize a Meteorite [print this page] Find and Recognize a Meteorite Find and Recognize a Meteorite
Amazed of meteorites?Crazy about shooting stars? Vexedup withdistinguishing meteorites and ordinary stones ? Wanna know how to find a meteorite ? Then check this out.... :)
Uh...Even though you are not interested in this meteorites , now pay some interest because you may even find one in your messy back yard ;)
Meteorites are very precious not because of the cost but because of the fact that they are not from our planet but from some other planets , crashing into our Solar system and that sounds very cool , right? OK coming to the concept , Meteorites fall every where on earth.Recent studies state that there will be hundreds of meteorites falling on the earth , every day , I repeat every day and that on average in any square mile of land there is one visible meteorite but the thing is we should be able to know what a meteorite is and its properties.But as meteorites fall with speeds upwards of 300 km/h (190 miles/h), they go deep inside and get usually out of our sight and that makes the hot deserts a cool place for meteorite hunters.So find strewn fields where rate of erosion is faster than the usual places and that makes the meteorite visible to us at a faster rate.And if you are in the southwest US , then you are in the prime territory of meteorites hunt.Usually you can find out these meteorites easily in desert areas but don't get discouraged , you can find them even in your area if you study the characteristics of meteorites exactly.Now I will help you out to recognize the meteorites..
Foremost thing is DO NOT hunt in the restricted areas .... like the Arizona one because that may lead you to jail and that will spoil the reputation of the professional meteorite hunters .
Fusion crust is present on the meteorites which is just a coal type mass on the surface of these meteorites which is formed as a result of the melted outer surface of the meteorite.
Generally the meteorites will be black or brown in color(color obtained by rusting of the fusion crust).And you can also find some dark lines on it due to the atmospheric friction.
You can have a metallic feel when you touch a meteorite , it being highly metallic in nature .
Except for planetary originated meteorites all other meteorites SET OFF the metallic detectors. So these metallic detectors play a very crucial role in finding meteorites if you are seriously interested in finding them.
They attract any magnetic or ferro magnetic substances as they are ferro magnetic in nature .You better have a magnet attached to the vehicle you move on so that you can immediately feel the presence of this meteorite.Because a magnet will always stick to a meteorite.
Meteorites don't contain quartz.
They are usually heavier and much more dense than ordinary terrestrial stones due in part to their high iron content.
They also contain Nickel and one thing I always doubt is why do scientists make out a frame of the constituents of meteorites when there is a chance of their coming from any planets and from anywhere in the universe and that rises a probability of them made up of any other constituents. Anyways to confine ourselves to the available knowledge I am forcibly creeping into the next property :(
When viewed under magnification the interior of a stone meteorite will show small spherical mineral inclusions called chondrules that will be scattered throughout the matrix.
Thumb prints will be present on the meteorites due to the high temperature they pass through immediately after entering the Earth's atmosphere , which is also called as ablation.
They are very irregular shaped and usually they are not round or spherical.
Meteorites are not any more radioactive than terrestrial rocks, so you can't find them with a Geiger counter.
When scratched on the dull surface of bathroom tiles , meteorites do not produce any streak . whereas magnetite and hematite form streaks ... I raise this point as many of us do get confused with the hematite , magnetite and meteorite because of their magnetic nature.
Don't get confused with man made iron pieces and meteorites.For this ,the major difference between iron produced by human activity and meteoritic iron is the presence of the element nickel.Every iron meteorite contains at least 7% nickel.
Hunting Stuff :
Go for a meteorite stick which has a magnetic shoe and with which you can detect some meteorites.
Then a metallic detector , which is the ultimate tool of a meteorite-hunter.Listen for an audible alert on your metal detector and dig in the area where the signal is strongest. Carry a magnet to help you search the ground for meteorite fragments. If you locate a magnetic, dark colored stone it is probably a meteorite.
You need to carry a GPS location device in order to save the location details of the place where you find the meteorite which is useful for further study.
And last thing is you can watch fresh meteorites during meteor showers and that is when you can have a live show of these meteorites :)
Finally I dedicate this entire article to the Father of meteorite hunting
H.H. Nininger :)
And for further and detailed information about meteorites go through "Rocks from space", by O. Richard Norton.
