Chondritic Meteorite NWA 869 Necklace
Chondritic Meteorite NWA 869 Necklace
In the deep history of our Solar System, a nebula of ice and dust swirled for billions of years. In the chaos, particles collided and combined, sometimes forming tiny planetoids. As the Sun was born and the cloud condensed, some planetoids grew in mass to become the worlds and moons we know today, while others became asteroids arcing through space. These ancient asteroids have changed little since their formation, holding within them the fundamental building blocks of the Solar System.
This necklace, made right here at Mini Museum contains three meteorite beads made with material from Chondritic Meteorite NWA 869, an ancient meteorite that dates back over 4,500,000,000 years.
Chondritic Meteorite Necklace
Before the Sun, the Solar System was a chaotic swirl of dust and ice. 4.5 billion years later, there are planets, moons, and even life. This journey has been a long one and can be difficult to understand. The most important clues we have come from stones nearly as old as the Solar System itself: chondritic meteorites.
Chondrites, known for their inclusion of small grains called chondrules, are meteorites that have not undergone internal melting or differentiation since their formation. This means that the material within the meteorites dates back 4.5 billion years, to the birth of the Solar System as we know it.
This necklace is an incredible Mini Museum creation containing three meteorite beads from chondritic meteorite NWA 869.
📸 The Chondritic Meteorite NWA 869 bead centered between two gold beads
NWA 869 was discovered in Northwest Africa in 2000. Over two metric tons of material from this meteorite have been found so far, with sizes ranging from pebble-sized to enormous chunks weighing more than 40 pounds.
The necklace is set with three NWA 869 meteorite beads which are complimented by faceted bronzite and 14k gold-filled findings. Each meteorite piece is set between gold glass seed beads. Every necklace is handmade and adjustable between from 16” to 18” in length.
The necklace comes with a handsome display/storage box and a small information card that also serves as the certificate of authenticity.
Please Note: This necklace is made right here at the Mini Museum workshop and crafted with many rare materials. Supply may be limited and if the necklace is currently out of stock more will arrive soon! Make sure to sign up for back-in-stock notifications!
MORE ABOUT Chondritic Meteorites
"...Like drops of fiery rain" ~ H.C. Sorby, English Geologist
From the Edge of Time
Planets have enough mass to cause significant melting and separation of geologic material. This makes it difficult to learn how they were formed, as their initial state is lost to time. Chondrites, however, have remained relatively untouched.
Their geologic structure is a relic from the early Solar System and clarifies the past of larger, more complex bodies as well.
Before the planets formed, the Solar System was a mix of dust, grains, and ice that orbited the protosun in a disk shape. Over time, this material smashed together, slowly forming planets and asteroids.
What makes a Chondrite
While the planets grew and changed, asteroids floated around the Solar System for billions of years, only occasionally colliding with other objects. Eventually, some asteroids approached Earth, impacting and becoming meteorites.
Chondrites can be identified by the presence of small round grains called chondrules. These beads vary in size but tend to be around a millimeter in diameter. Chondrules are made of silicate minerals and can be glassy or crystalline. It is suggested that they were created by the flash heating and rapid cooling of dust in the early Solar System and that the chondrules then gradually accreted together.
These tiny objects are the oldest solid matter in the Solar System and are the building blocks of planets.
Further Reading
McSween, Harry Y. “Chondritic Meteorites and the Formation of Planets: Leftover Raw Materials from the Beginning of the Solar System Provide Insights into the Way the Planets Were Assembled.” American Scientist, vol. 77, no. 2, 1989, pp. 146–153.
Sorby, H.C, “On the structure and origin of meteorites”, Nature, vol 15, no. 388, 1877, pp. 405–498.
Connelly, James N., et al. “The Absolute Chronology and Thermal Processing of Solids in the Solar Protoplanetary Disk.” Science, vol. 338, no. 6107, 2012, pp. 651–655.
