LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 January Signature Natural History #5000  / 

48335

A GLIMPSE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:975.00 USD Estimated At:1,600.00 - 2,000.00 USD
A GLIMPSE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
<B>A GLIMPSE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL CRYSTAL STRUCTURE</B></I><BR> <I>Muonionalusta <BR>Iron, fine octahedrite<BR>Lapland, Sweden </B></I><BR>This is the sliced end section from a rare meteorite find, Muonionalusta. The north of Sweden is home to Reindeer, the indigenous Salmi people, and the aurora borealis. Sparsely populated, it wasn't till 1906 that the first Muonionalusta meteorite was discovered. Glacial activity has distributed the Mounionalusta strewn field across a large area since its fall over 800,000 years ago making it extremely difficult to locate specimens. The present specimen displays the dramatic contrast between the interior and exterior of this fine octahedrite. The exterior exhibits a typically characterful fusion crust, with delicate rust shades nestling in the pitted areas, but the real interest is the sliced and polished inner surface that reveals the secret of a meteorite's make-up. Strange crisscrossing lines of an indefinable regularity cover the exposed surface, unlike anything one could imagine finding on Earth; these are the Widmanstätten figures, shining with infinite varieties of silver and gray. Named for Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten, curator of the Austrian emperor's cabinet of technological curiosities and director of the Imperial porcelain works in the early 19th century, these patterns are exposed only after slicing, polishing and acid etching, and are unique to the crystalline structure of iron octahedrites. This wonderful example is as fine an exhibition of this uniquely extraterrestrial mixture of kamacite and taenite as one could hope to find, and measures 5½ x 4½ inches and weighs 1,340 grams. <BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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