IMILAC - THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR OF A METEORITE WITH SPACE GEMS REVEALED. ...

Description

IMILAC - THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR OF A METEORITE WITH SPACE GEMS REVEALED
PAL - Pallasite
Atacama Desert, Chile
Less than 1% of all meteorites are pallasites, the most sought-after of all meteorites. The dazzling, rarely available, end piece now offered amply reveals why Imilac is among the most coveted. The "pallasite" designation is in honor of the German scientist Peter Pallas, who discovered the first pallasitic mass in 1749 in Siberia. This is an honor Pallas is fortunate to have received, for he fervently believed that the unusual specimen he found could not be from outer space. Well, it was...and so is the wondrous meteorite from which this end piece is derived. Pallasitic meteorites originate from the mantle-core boundary of a planetary-sized body that broke apart during the formation of our solar system - the remnants of which are the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The olivine crystals seen here are the result of small chunks of stony mantle becoming suspended in molten nickel-iron and slowly cooling and crystallizing over a million years in the vacuum of outer space. The gleaming cut surface reveals a wealth of crystallized olivine as well as peridot (birthstone of August). The reverse, exterior surface of the meteorite is swathed in a milk chocolate patina. End cuts are obviously difficult to obtain, and this example provides a superb display of both the interior and exterior surface of an exotic meteorite. Recovered from the Atacama Desert in Chile, the highest desert on Earth, and with a Macovich Collection provenance, the finest collection of aesthetic meteorites in the world. 151 x 77 x 39 mm (6 x 3 x 1½ inches) and 445 grams (1 pound).

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