You think you've found a meteorite? (photos) (2024)

FAQs

What do you do if you think you found a meteorite? ›

What to do if you think you have a meteorite? You may try contacting the Geological Survey of your state, a local college or university or college or a local natural history museum. In addition, there are a few commercial firms that will charge a fee for examining and identifying suspected meteorites.

Meteorites can be collected for scientific and educational purposes, and can also be commercially collected. What are the authorities that govern collecting meteorites from public lands? The courts have long established that meteorites belong to the owner of the surface estate on which meteorites are found.

Some unclassified meteorites will sell for around 50 cents per gram. More beautiful stones such as pallasites contain crystals and can look extremely dazzling when they're polished. Those can range all the way up to $40 dollars a gram. Rarer stones can fetch up to $1000 per gram if they're in good condition.

Nickel Test: Run a chemical test for nickel. If the proportion of nickel is inside the range for meteorites, you may have a meteorite. Weight Test: Meteorites are much more dense than normal earth rocks. Fusion Crust Test: Fusion crust is a thin, dark rind formed on a meteorite as it streaks through our atmosphere.

Try not to handle any freshly fallen meteorites with your bare hands! Oils and microbes from your skin will slowly degrade the surface of a meteorite, dulling the fusion crust, contaminating the meteorite, and promoting rust.

And if you buy a meteorite from someone who found it on their land, you legally own it too. Things get more complicated if you find the meteorite on public lands. You might be allowed to keep it if the land is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, but there are several stipulations.

Streak: if you scratch a meteorite on an unglazed ceramic surface, it should not leave a streak. A dense rock that leaves a black or red streak probably contains the iron minerals magnetite or hematite, respectively, neither of which are typically found in meteorites.

Due to the combination of all of these factors, only a handful of witnessed meteorite falls occur Each year. As an order of magnitude estimation, each square kilometer of the earth's surface should collect 1 meteorite fall about once every 50,000 years, on the average.

Are you looking to sell your meteorites or tektites? SkyFall will buy your entire collection, a part of your collection or even an individual specimen. If there was a confirmed meteorite fall in your area, town or village, then jump to Section 3.

Perhaps your local natural history museum has days in which the staff identify samples brought in from the public. Perhaps you have a rock shop nearby that sells meteorites. See if they can put you in contact with their supplier, and this person may be an expert in meteorites.

What does raw meteorite look like? ›

The surface of a freshly fallen meteorite will appear black and shiny due to the presence of a “fusion crust,” the result of frictional heating and abrasion (or ablation) of the outer surface of the rock as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere (see Pasamonte, below).

“Over the last few decades, we have discovered that meteorites contain unique magnetic records that tell us how planets formed and evolved,” says team member Benjamin Weiss (also at MIT). “However, even just briefly touching a fist-sized meteorite with a magnet essentially obliterates this record forever.”

Perhaps your local natural history museum has days in which the staff identify samples brought in from the public. Perhaps you have a rock shop nearby that sells meteorites. See if they can put you in contact with their supplier, and this person may be an expert in meteorites.

They are not poisonous and thus there is no danger in touching or even ingesting a piece of meteorite (the latter not, however, being recommended).

We want to be free of the sand and clay of the region it was found. The key word to remember here is gentle. Use just enough force to remove the dirt. Under that covering of dirt may be the remains of the original surface of the meteorite.