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Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments

€42,95

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Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments

Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments
Muonionalusta Meteorite - Extraterrestrial Metal Fragments

An incredible meteorite from beyond the stars! This specimen includes extraterrestrial metal from the Muonionalusta Meteorite, a meteorite over 4.5 billion years old!

The meteorite fragments are encased in resin and come in an acrylic gem jar with a glass-topped display case for easy viewing. An informational card with the Mini Museum Seal of Authenticity is included!

From Beyond the Stars

4.6 billion years ago, the Sun sparked to life, one small glow in a swirling nebula of gas and dust that would form our Solar System. The sudden appearance of light and heat began to change this nebula’s composition, dragging some particles into the fledgling star while smashing others against each other, forming random planetoids and asteroids. Many of those objects have been sailing through space in a far orbit around the Sun for billions of years. Occasionally, some break their orbit and come crashing down to Earth as meteorites.

In 1906, evidence of a prehistoric meteorite impact was discovered in Northern Sweden outside the town of Kitkiöjärvi. The impact occurred over 1,000,000 years ago and glacial processes brought fragments of it close to the Muonio River. This is what came to be known as the Muonionalusta meteorite. Pieces have been found in a 15 by 9 mi area north of the Arctic Circle, with over 500 lb of material having been found. Lead isotope dating of inclusions within the meteorite estimates that the parent formed around 4.57 billion years ago, making Muonionalusta one of the oldest known meteorites on Earth, nearly as old as the Solar System itself.

This specimen is a collection of authentic meteorite fragments from Muonionalusta sealed into resin. Shavings like this are created when raw sections of meteorite are cut open for polishing and display.

This specimen is housed in a glass-topped riker display box measuring 4x3x1" and comes with an informational card that also serves as certificate of authenticity, along with a smaller card to allow you to customize your display.

Front of the Large 3X4" Card

Back of the Large 3X4" Card

About the Muonionalusta Meteorite

📸 A slice of Muonionalusta exhibiting the classic Widmanstätten pattern

Ancient Patterns

Muonionalusta is an ancient meteorite, discovered in 1906 near the town of Kitkiöjärvi, Sweden. Lead isotope dating of inclusions within the meteorite estimates that the parent formed around 4.57 billion years ago.

Slices of this meteorite show a particular patterning known as a Widmanstätten pattern. This is an occurrence that can be found in octahedrite iron meteorites. Over long periods of cooling in outer space, two different iron-nickel alloys can be formed simultaneously: Kamacite and Taenite. These two alloys form tiny planes of material in an octagonal structure, which when sliced and polished shows a lattice of overlapping material. Due to the cool duration and environment required, Widmanstätten patterns are only found in meteorite material.

📸 A Closeup of the Muonionalusta Meteorite

A unique property of the Muonionalusta meteorite is the occurrences of the mineral stishovite within it. This mineral is a polymorph of quartz (SiO2) that is formed under intense pressure. Stishovite is an uncommon material on Earth and had not been known to occur in iron meteorites at all until the study of Muonionalusta. The meteorite’s parent body was too small to reach the necessary levels of pressure and the impact with Earth did not leave evidence of cratering, so it is thought that the formation of this mineral occurred during the break up event of the planet body 400 million years ago.

Further Reading

Blichert-Toft, J., et al., “The early formation of the IVA iron meteorite parent body.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 296, 2010, pp. 469-480.

Holstam, D., Broman, C., et al. “First discovery of stishovite in an iron meteorite.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 38, no. 11, 2003, pp. 1579–1583.

Tatum, J. “The Widmanstätten pattern.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 54, no. 12, 2019, pp. 2977-2984

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