Meteorite Times MagazineContentsby Editor

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Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi

Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin

Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood

Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish

IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team

Micro Visions by John Kashuba

Norm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm Lehrman

Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black

Meteorite of the Month by Editor

Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Meteorite Times MagazineOchansk: If it’s abundant, it better be goodby Martin Horejsi

An August 1887 Witnessed Fall: Ochansk, Russia

Ochansk:

If it’s abundant,

it better be good.

With 500kg of the brecciated H4 named Ochansk arriving on earth, acollector desiring a piece should focus on collectability and a historicalpaper trail.

In this particular case, the specimen has traveled through at least fourdocumented collections.

At about one o’clock in the afternoon on August 30, 1887, 500kg of H4 chondrite fellfrom the sky following a glowing meteor and many loud sounds. Landing near thevillage of Tabory, near Okhansk, the now-named meteorite has made its way intomost collections worldwide.

The largest specimen that fell was recorded to be 115kg, and the current mainmass is listed as 100kg and living in the University of Kazan in Tatarstan, Russia.

Ochansk is a cement meteorite. In other words, it would be perfectlycamouflaged if it fell into a pile of broken concrete.

The specimen label of 267A.1 is from a famous collector and mineraldealer who used the number/letter/decimal designation as a directreference to the fourth edition of the Catalogue of Meteorites.The label usesa designation from the 1985 version of the Catalogue (aka: the Blue Book).In this case, the meteorite that contains this labile is found on page 267,and is the first meteorite on the first column of the page.

Specimens with cards from the Humboldt University in Berlin areexceedingly rare these days. In some cases, the cards may be worth morethan the actual specimen, but of course of little value without the specimen.

Collecting historical witnessed falls often requires the virtues of patience andperseverance. However, those virtues don’t always apply to the simple acquiring ofthe locality, but sometimes also to the necessity of an exceptional specimen torepresent a well-distributed meteorite.

Until next time….

The Accretion Desk welcomes all comments and feedback.accretiondesk@gmail.com

Meteorite Times Magazine2012 Vacation Part One “They Came From Space”by Jim Tobin

5:30 AM Wednesday morning the alarm went off though I was already awake. Ithad been a restless night of sleep. I guess I was pretty excited about the trip wewere about to take. Paul was picking me up at 6 AM I had just enough time to set allmy stuff outside on my front porch. We were headed to Phoenix with a one-day stopin Quartzsite. There was a meteorite exhibition opening on Friday morning at theChallenger Center in Phoenix. It was being put together by Geoff Notkin. Weexpected it to be something fantastic.

We arrived at Quartzsite about noon I guess. Drove around town for a few minuteschecking out the RV parks. We found one that was pretty nice and headed off to getsomething to eat. After lunch we made the rounds of the rock stores and collectiblesshops. I found some chunks of rock and I simply couldn’t live without. We boughtsome neat rotating specimen stands. They were solar powered and not veryexpensive. We got done walking around town which killed about three hours and itwas time to head off to the RV park. We got all checked in and as we were leavingthe office the woman there told us that the Italian restaurant just down the street wasreally excellent. Our intent had been to cook something for dinner in the RV. Butfresh made restaurant pizza sounded pretty good to both of us. It was just a shortwalk from the RV so after working on the computer for a couple hours we headedover there. The pizza was just as delicious as we hoped for and since we werewalking we both had a couple of beers. Our plan for the next day was to go justdown the frontage road a little to a placer gold mining area and do some metaldetecting. We would only be able to hunt there for a few hours before it got too hot. Itwould be over 100º F again.

We were out on the hills a little before eight o’clock sweeping the metal detectors. Itwas a spectacularly bright beautiful day. There were mines, adits, and pits all overthe area. All the region west of Quartzsite has been hunted for gold since before theCivil War. After a little while we stopped swinging the metal detectors, and justenjoyed the exploring. We did take a lot of pictures of course. As we hiked up aroundone little hill we saw something pretty surprising. In all the years of hiked in thedesert neither of us had ever come upon a grave before. It was exciting, fascinating,interesting, and just a little tragic all at the same time. Guess we have a researchproject now to see if there’s anything we can learn about the grave. There have beenthree major phases of activity out there. The first, before the Civil War, the nextaround the turn of the last century, and the last the mid-1930s. To me the gravelooks older than the 1930s but not as old as the Civil War. The wood that’s left of thecross is really weathered but doesn’t look to be 160 years old. We pressed on fromthe grave across a valley and up over one more hill which gave us a really goodvantage point of the rest of the area. It was about 10:30 AM by then and time to headoff to Phoenix.

We usually watch movies on my laptop at night in a motorhome. The night before Irealized I’d forgotten the power cord that plugs into my power supply. Not only wouldwe not see movies I would not be doing any writing or work during the week. I calledmy wife and ask her to find it in my office. That was not very hard, it was sitting rightnext to the where everything for the trip had been piled. She sent me a picture fromher phone just to be sure it was the correct cord. And it was the right cord. She tookit down to FedEx Office and send it overnight to a location close to where we weregoing to stay. So by the time we got done hiking and exploring I was able to checkand see that it had arrived. We made our way through Phoenix and over to Peoria.The FedEx Office was only one block off the freeway so I hopped out, got thepackage that was on hold, jumped back in the RV, in about 5 minutes we were backon the road.

We settled into our RV Park, got all showered up and cooled off, we had a couplehours to relax before we headed for dinner. We had been hoping for about a weekthat Geoff would be able to get his exhibit all set up and could join us for dinner. As itturned out in the last couple hours of working at the museum the exhibit just allcame together. Paul and I were really looking forward to dinner. Paul’s brother Tonyand his girlfriend Tricia live near Phoenix and they had chosen the place for dinner. Itwas a wonderful buffet at one of the casinos. Geoff was bringing Tim Mallory a vicepresident at Fisher Labs, as happy Gold Bug 2 users we were interested in meetinghim. Bob Holmes another good friend from Arizona was joining us as well. We had asuper great group of people and expected to have a wonderful meal. We were notdisappointed, we got to hear great stories told by Geoff and Tim. We got to catch up

a little with Bob and it’s always great to see Tony and Tricia. Paul and I always seemto be the last ones to leave restaurants whenever we go out to dinner with Tony andTricia. The same thing happen this time we looked around and realized no one elsewas in the buffet and most of the lights had been turned down. Geoff invited us tomeet somewhere near his hotel to continue the fun and conversation a little longer.

I have driven through Phoenix about three times in the last 20 years. But I’ve nevergotten out of the car until that Thursday morning when I picked up the cord at theFedEx Office. It was pretty surprising to find as we drove to the sports bar acrossfrom Geoff’s hotel that it was about 200 feet from the corner that the FedEx Office ison. Just one of those really strange coincidences that happen in life.

Paul and I were on a little bit of a tight schedule. We had to be back on the road byabout 1:30 or two o’clock in the afternoon. So we got to the Challenger Center soonafter they opened in order to see all the rest of the museum before Geoff’s bigopening. It’s a great science center. It has lots of shuttle era memorabilia on display,many interesting pieces of spacecraft hardware, an observing deck on the roof forpublic star parties, and some great outreach programs for the young and thecommunity at large.

The Challenger Center

A portion of the mural that encircles the lower level of the Challenger center

A space shuttle tire is only one of many fine samples of spacecraft hardware on display.

There was a reception in one of the conference rooms starting at noon before theribbon-cutting ceremony for “They Came From Space” Geoff’s wonderful exhibit.The reception was a roomful of dignitaries and famous individuals from Arizona’smeteorite community. We felt pretty honored to be invited. Maria Haas arrived and itis always a joy to see her, so the IMCA was represented at the opening as well. Thedirector for the Challenger Center was MC at the reception. She introduced TimMallory who gave a nice though brief talk about Fisher Labs commitment toknowledge and exploration. Fisher Labs is one of the corporate sponsors of theexhibit. We watched a nice long clip from an episode of Meteorite Men, and than itwas Geoff’s turn to speak. He gave a great talk, woven together with stories, andlots of humor. The excitement and anticipation were building. Everyone wanted toget into the exhibit. We still had to wait for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Soonenough though the room was open and we got to see a truly fabulous display ofmeteorites, memorabilia from Meteorite Men, costumes from the show, metaldetectors and tools.

Geoff Notkin giving his talk to the assembled audience at the reception held before theopening of “They Came From Space” his meteorite exhibit.

A split second after the ribbon was cut at the Challenger Center during the grandopening festivities.

One of the display cases is devoted to the awards won by the Meteorite Men TV show.Featured in this shot are Geoff’s personal Telly Awards. They are to Television what theOscars are to motion pictures and he should be very proud indeed.

“They Came From Space” is a meteorite exhibit so there were lots of meteorites. This isjust one case with irons.

This was my favorite display case. It has meteorites of course but it has Geoff’s toolsand some of the non meteorite metal objects that he has unearthed.

Several of the costumes from the Meteorite Men show were displayed at the exhibit.This is the arctic costume. Note the Mosquito Hat which is for protection from theravenous bugs in the forests of the Muonionalusta Strewnfield and the woods of Russiaand Poland.

The exhibit runs for the next year. If you are in the Phoenix area I highly recommendthat you visit the Challenger Center and see “They Came From Outer Space”.

We regretfully made our good byes and got on the freeway heading north to our nextstop on what proved to be the best vacation we have ever taken (so far). But that isa story to continue in the next two articles. Stay tuned, as the old expression goes tohear more of our adventures on the 2012 vacation trip.

Meteorite-Times MagazineMeteorite Market Trendsby Michael Blood

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Meteorite Times MagazineThe Recovery of the “Novato” Meteorite that Fell on2012 October 18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT)by Robert Verish

An Article In Meteorite-Times Magazine by Robert Verish

The Recovery of the "Novato"Meteorite that Fell on 2012 October

18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT)A compilation of field reports - images - news items regarding this

California meteorite fall.

A comprehensive story about the search for the "Novato" Meteorites is notfeasible at this point in the recovery effort. This effort is still on-going, so anymethod of reporting on this event at this time would have to be "on-going" aswell. Something like a "blog" would work. The format of this article would notwork. But a link from this article to a webpage that can be updated frequentlywould actually serve that purpose.

"Click" HERE, to be sent to my webpage which is a compilation of images,press releases, and reports, all regarding the hunt for meteorites from the"Novato" fall.

The name "Novato" is not, yet, a formally-approved name for the L6 brecciatedchondrite (A. Rubin, 2012) which is the composition of the stones that comprisethe "Novato Meteorite fall".

Novato is located in northern Marin County in what is called the "North

Bay" (about 1/2 hour north of San Francisco on Rt101).

The bright fireball, which was witnessed by many observers in the North Bay inthe early evening hours, traveled from SSW to NNE and dropped meteorites allalong its path, all the way up to Novato. Meteorites most likely landed inSonoma County, as well.

To see images of what these meteorites look like, "click" HERE!

Novato, California

The above image shows a map depicting some of the streets and publicparks in Novato, CA.

The above image shows some of the streets and parks that many people(myself included) have searched looking for meteorites.

Except for the first stone which fell and hit the roof of a house on St. FrancisAve, the next three stones were found on pavement, such as public streets andparking lots. Undoubtably, many more stones have come to rest on other roofs,driveways, parks, playgrounds, and yards on private property. We will need thehelp of all private property owners in Marin and Sonoma Counties in therecovery of these stones.

Feel free to contact me if you think you have found one of these stones: Posted originally on 2012/11/04 | by Robert Verish

Please add your Comments below.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: A big "Thank you!" goes out to all the guys at Galactic Analytics.

REFERENCES:

Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) Mission statement - CAMS is an automated video surveillance of the night skyin search of meteors to validate minor showers in the IAU Working List ofMeteor Showers. Stations are located in California.

UPDATES - Click "Recent Updates" - to go to an extension of this Bob's FindingsArticle for November 2012 - to see an on-going compilation of linksregarding the "Novato" meteorite fall. These "updates" will appear on thatwebsite under this title : Findings from the Strewn-field: Field Reports of the Meteorite-Recovery Labby Bob Verish The October Fireball and Meteorite Fall in the Novato California Area A compilation of news stories and reports about this meteorite fall. http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2012/novato/novato.htm

My previous articles can be found *HERE*

For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser

Meteorite Times MagazineDellen Tagamite Swedenby John Kashuba

Dellen Crater is a roundish lake system in central Sweden near the east coast 180miles north of Stockholm. It is about 11 miles across. The impact that formed itoccurred 89.0 ± 2.7 million years ago.

Some of the impact rock from the site is called tagamite. It is a term that wasintroduced in 1975 to describe impact rock from the Popigai crater in Russia.Varieties of tagamites are described based on crystallinity, texture and clast content.

Some writers call these rocks by the local name “dellenites”. Others make the casefor referring to all such as simply “impact melt rock”.

Eight millimeter wide view of a thin section of Dellen Sweden tagamite in transmitted light.

Brown impact melt glass containing crystals and mineral grains. FOV = 3mm. Dellentagamite, Sweden.

The circular features are concentric curved fractures, “perlitic” texture. Dellen tagamite,Sweden.

Near the center of this view are several small dark fans of fine crystals in the solidified melt.FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

In cross polarized light the glass is black. FOV = 3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

The dark fans are fine crystals the grew in the melt before it solidified. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellentagamite, Sweden.

Another set of fine radiating crystals in the solidified impact glass. When Dellen material hasthis fine texture throughout it is called cryptocrystalline tagamite. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellentagamite, Sweden.

Crystals and mineral grains in impact glass. Cross polarized light. FOV = 3mm. Dellentagamite, Sweden.

Fractured mineral grain in impact glass. Cross polarized light. FOV = 0.3mm. Dellentagamite, Sweden.

Mineral grains and inclusions in impact glass. Thin section in transmitted light. FOV =0.3mm. Dellen tagamite, Sweden.

Australite Indicator Core

By Norm Lehrman, www.Tektitesource.com

Upon first introduction to an Australite ablation core it is a common error to confuse the anterior and posterior

surfaces. The always present smoothly rounded surface is very suggestive of the frontal shield on an oriented chondrite, but this impression is incorrect. As Australites made their final plunge through the atmosphere, the frontal surface heated to the point where thin layers of melt formed and streamed back, exactly analogous to an oriented meteorite. In the case of the classic flanged button morphology, a nice roll-over lip formed and survived, but this seems only to have happened in a rather narrow size range. If the tektite was a little larger in diameter than typical flanged buttons, a thermal disequilibrium developed between the white-hot frontal surface and the vacuum-refrigerated rear. This expansion/contraction couplet caused patellate flakes to burst free of the frontal surface creating the irregular fluted face of an ablation core. The absolute clincher for this story is found in the “indicator cores” like that featured this month. These are ablation cores arrested in the very act of exfoliating skin wedges---flanged buttons that were just a tiny bit too big--- and pie-shaped wedges began to burst off. But the crowning glory of an indicator core (and the reason for its name) is that the process didn’t go to full completion. A few wedges of the frontal skin remain attached to the core. In this example, the remnants display the spectacular and utterly uncontestable orientation features of a flanged Aussie button--- frontal vortex ring-waves and well-developed roll-over flanges. The part of the core that has lost flakes is a perfect fluted ablation core. Together, these features tell the whole story in graphic detail. During a career devoted to trying to read rocks, I hugely appreciate one that tells a good story with exceptional clarity. Behold, the fabulous Australite Indicator Core! (from our collection).

Meteorite Times MagazineMeteorite Calendar – November 2012by Anne Black

Please click on the meteorite calendar to view a larger image.

Meteorite Times MagazinePatos de Minasby Editor

Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hostsThe Meteorite Picture of the Day.

Contributed by John Lutzon, IMCA 1896 – 61.52 grams of the octahedrite variety. Iron, IABcomplex

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