 |  | Quote: |  | | Posted by GoldDigger1950 | | |  |
| Thanks, Eric. It's very colorful.
I don't go out looking for meteorites so I'm not a "hound" type but an opportunistic one. I found one almost perfectly round once. Sold it on eBay for a few hundred, as I recall. A very interesting specimen that went to a university in New Jersey. Turns out it was Lunar in origin. I may still have some photos. I'll see if I can dig them up.
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Please don't take offense GoldDigger1950, but as of August 2010 there are no verified/classified Lunar meteorites recovered in the United States. There are only a handful of Lunar meteorites that have been classified, out of the 51,000+ meteorites that have ever been recovered and classified on Earth.
Also, meteorites are never "perfectly round". I'm not sure who told you your stone was a Lunar meteorite, but I would check their information. Here are some stats on all the meteorites that have ever been found/recovered and classified on Earth.
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According to the Meteoritical Society meteorite database on USGS.gov
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There are a total of 51,105 total meteorites found on Earth.
of those, there are "...130 records found for meteorites with historical types that contain "Lunar"..."
Of those 130 total stones worldwide, there are 68 pairings (Pairing = classified stones which match lithologies/chemistry with another)
~68 Lunar Pairings
Of those 68 Lunar meteorite pairings, None of the 130 stones were found in the United States.
USA Lunar Meteorites = 0
There are, 92 records found for meteorites with historical types that contain "Martian"
Of Those 92 Martian (Mars) meteorite stones found (Pairings data not available) 2 of those were recoverd in the USA.
USA Martian Meteorites = 2
Lafayette (stone) - Indiana, USA - Martian (nakhlite)
Los Angeles - California, USA - Martian (shergottite)
References:
Meteoritical Bulletin:
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http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/index.php
Washington University
General List:
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http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/moon_meteorites_list_alpha.htm
Planetary Meteorites - Meteoris.de
Norbert Classen - President IMCA (International Meteorite Collectors Association)
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http://www.meteoris.de/luna/list.html
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I am unaware of any Lunar meteorite that has been found in the United States. This is kind of the holy grail of meteorite hunting (and probably ranks higher than discovering an entire meteorite strewnfield).
I would liken finding a Lunar meteorite with a treasure hunter finding the Atocha shipwreck, or a gold hunter finding the Lost Dutchman Mine. Maybe the LD is a bad example since it's arguably a legend.
The point is that Lunar meteorites make up only about 0.133% of all known meteorites that have ever been found and classified.
Though it's possible you may have found a meteorite, if it is, there's a 99.86% chance it's not a Lunar meteorite.
I hope this helps, and please don't take offense, as I certainly don't mean to offend.
It's just that it's so very rare to find a meteorite to begin with, for it to be a LUnar, and be found in the USA the chance is astronomically small. Were tests done on the stone? Is it at all possible that the stone you found may not a meteorite? Perhaps the person who analyzed the stone for you may have been mistaken?
If it is in fact a Lunar meteorite found in the USA that would be one phenomenal find! Truly the holy grail of American meteorite hunters.
Regards,
Eric
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Regards, Eric Wichman Meteorite Hunting & Collecting Magazine You are not allowed to view links.
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