![]() ![]() These are not dull lumps, but consist of roughly a 50-50 mix of metal and olivine crystals. Slices of the Fukang Meteorite held up to light seem to glow as the light passes through the olivines scattered within the nickel-iron matrix. The embedding of olivine crystals that makes a Pallasite a Pallasite also makes these meteorites hauntingly beautiful. Their website about the Fukang Pallasite describes it as “the most spectacular example of natural cosmic splendor.” Curator Marvin Killgore also owns a 31-kilogram specimen of the Fukang Meteorite. The University of Arizona continues to hold a 31-kilogram specimen of the Fukang Meteorite. Other olivines are unfractured and clear. A subset of the olivine grains are highly fractured and exhibit a “cloudy” appearance. Olivines vary in shape from rounded to angular. Fukang contains several regions of “massive” olivine clusters up to 11 centimeters in diameter with thin metal veins only a few milimeters in width. They range in size from less than 5 milimeters to several centimeters. ![]() The most noteworthy observation of the macroscopic specimen is its enormous mass and the presence of large olivine “clusters” heterogeneously distributed throughout the entire specimen. Here’s an excerpt from the team’s findings: The investigators analyzed polished slabs from the meteorite and prepared thin sections of olivine-rich regions of the Fukang. Their findings were reported in “The Fukang Pallasite: Evidence for Non-Equilibrium Shock Processing” in Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII (2006). The Fukang Meteorite was investigated at the Southwest Meteorite Centre, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. ![]() Dante Lauretta saw the Fukang Meteorite at the 2005 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. What has been discovered about the Fukang Meteorite Some 40,000 meteorites have been found that were not observed on their way to Earth. Some have said that less than one percent of all meteorites are Pallasites.Īccording to the Planetary Science Institute, about 1,100 meteorite falls have been observed and recovered. Pallasite meteorites are exceedingly rare since very few make it all the way through Earth’s atmosphere to land on the planet. If not from a planet, it may have come from an asteroid big enough to have a distinct rock mantle and metallic core - a “differentiated” asteroid. Pallasite meteorites containing olivine are said to come from the mantle of a rocky planet that orbited between Mars and Jupiter. But, as we know from the Fukang meteorite, there is extraterrestrial olivine out there, too. Olivine is the mineral from which the gemstone peridot (August’s birthstone) is formed.Įarthly olivine is present in the planet’s mantle and appears in xenoliths, which are thrown on the surface by volcanic eruptions. Olivine is a rock-forming mineral found on Earth in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks like basalt, gabbro, dunite, diabase, and peridotite. Pallasites are made up of a network of nickel-iron metal around crystals of olivine, a silicate mineral. Pallasites are a sub-set of stony-iron meteorites. Stony iron meteorites are made up of approximately equal amounts of silicate materials and nickel-iron metals. The Krasnojarsk Pallasite was a 700-kilogram meteorite discovered in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 1772. Pallasites are named after a German doctor and naturalist - Simon Peter Pallas - who described the Krasnojarsk Pallasite in 1772. The Fukang Meteorite is a Pallasite meteorite. The finder had removed approximately 20 kilograms from the meteorite before putting it on display. The Fukang Meteorite made its public debut at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February 2005. Less than 10 meteorite falls every year are recovered. The Institute estimates that some 500 meteorites reach Earth annually - most falling into the oceans or onto remote parts of the Earth’s landmasses. There is no record that anyone noticed it arrive. The Fukang Meteorite was not one of those. A meteoroid that does make it to land is called a meteorite.īacklit slices from the Fukang mass are reminiscent of stained glass windows crafted in the ancient solar system.Īccording to the Planetary Science Institute, about 1,100 meteorite falls have been observed and recovered. They usually burn up on the way through the atmosphere, never to been seen on land. They are commonly broken off from larger space bodies, such as comets, asteroids, moons, or planets.Ī meteoroid that enters the atmosphere of a planet is called a meteor or shooting star. NASA says meteoroids are “space rocks” ranging in size from mere grains of dust to small asteroids. ![]()
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