January 23, 2012
A Piece of the Moon
image by Howard Eskildsen, Florida
Perhaps in pity of we who will never travel to the Moon, nature has found a way to bring the Moon to us, so to speak. Meteoritic fragments long ago launched from their lunar home have landed on Earth, and some eventually found their way into homes of eager, would-be explorers like me. When I found lunar fragments for sale while looking at SpaceWeather.com, I was delighted to see that they came from Dr Mike Reynolds. I know Mike personally and immediately ordered the specimen and others from him. Dr. Reynolds is a well known and respected astronomer and expert in meteorites. In addition to academic publications he has written a practical guide for observers and collectors entitled Falling Stars, A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites.
The tiny specimen arrived in a 2 X 2 inch sealed clear plastic container with full description of the meteorite, date and location of find. A signed 8.5 X 5.5 inch certificate of authenticity accompanied the specimen. I used an Orion MicroXplore PC200 Digital Handheld Microscope to image the specimen at 20X. The image was taken through the plastic container, since I did not want to compromise the specimen by breaking the seal. The image shows the certificate (not to scale), the back of the container with the meteorite data, the front of the container with specimen, and the microscopic image of the meteorite fragment. I love to look at it, with its angular, colored inclusions, and try to imagine the cataclysms that formed, fractured, and then launched this fragment of our nearest neighbor.
Howard Eskildsen
Related Links
International Meteorite Collectors Association (IMCA)
Yesterday's LPOD: The Dawn of Walther
Tomorrow's LPOD: Bumps And Ridges
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