Have I found myself a meteorite?

[Het patel]

Hi, ya everyone I am from India and this rock was found in a rice field buried half in the ground. It looked different from the surrounding and soil so it caught my eye. Now I have posted it on various meteorite related face book groups and other forums and they told it's the real deal! Talking about this rock it appears to have a fusion crust, contraction cracks and is slightly attracted to a magnet. Hoping for experts to chime in.
Cheers!

 

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[Red-Coat]

Welcome to Tnet.

We get lots of rocks posted as hopeful meteorites and the vast majority of them are not. Usually it's easier to say that a rock is not a meteorite than to say it is because what is pictured has red flags.

Refreshingly, the appearance of yours is entirely consistent with a stony chondrite meteorite and, if it's only weakly attracted to a magnet, a low metal chondrite. That's a view based on appearance only, but it would need testing or cutting to be absolutely sure.

If you're prepared to give an exact location for where you found it, I will check for you whether it aligns with any of the known chondrite falls in India.

 

[Het patel]

Welcome to Tnet.

We get lots of rocks posted as hopeful meteorites and the vast majority of them are not. Usually it's easier to say that a rock is not a meteorite than to say it is because what is pictured has red flags.

Refreshingly, the appearance of yours is entirely consistent with a stony chondrite meteorite and, if it's only weakly attracted to a magnet, a low metal chondrite. That's a view based on appearance only, but it would need testing or cutting to be absolutely sure.

If you're prepared to give an exact location for where you found it, I will check for you whether it aligns with any of the known chondrite falls in India.

Thank you for your reply! I have checked meteorite database and based on my findings the nearest observed fall and find is like 60km away from where I live and that meteorite is an LL chondrite, now is it possible that it's one of the fragment of that fall?

 

[Red-Coat]

Thank you for your reply! I have checked meteorite database and based on my findings the nearest observed fall and find is like 60km away from where I live and that meteorite is an LL chondrite, now is it possible that it's one of the fragment of that fall?

Entirely possible, but your specimen shows significant weathering. There have been 17 LL chondrite falls in India, all witnessed. At least 5 of them are too recent to show the kind of weathering of the fusion crust seen on your specimen.

Which of the falls was nearest to where you found your specimen?

 

[Het patel]

Entirely possible, but your specimen shows significant weathering. There have been 17 LL chondrite falls in India, all witnessed. At least 5 of them are too recent to show the kind of weathering of the fusion crust seen on your specimen.

Which of the falls was nearest to where you found your specimen

*Kaprada fall which is approx 60km away from here.

 

[Red-Coat]

*Kaprada fall which is approx 60km away from here.

It won’t be from the Kaprada fall. That was in 2004 and the fusion crust wouldn’t develop the degree of weathering seen on yours in as little as 20 years.

Incidentally, Kaprada was not a LL meteorite. The recovered stone was classified as L5/6. The L classification is for low metallic iron (4-10%) and the 5/6 rating for its petrologic state, not as an indication of iron content. The LL classification is for meteorites which are both low in total iron (19-22%) and low in metallic iron (0.3-3%). Both groups would exhibit weak attraction to a magnet though.

In addition to the 17 LL chondrites, there are 51 L Chondrites from India (with one classified as between L and LL).

 

[Het patel]

It won’t be from the Kaprada fall. That was in 2004 and the fusion crust wouldn’t develop the degree of weathering seen on yours in as little as 20 years.

Incidentally, Kaprada was not a LL meteorite. The recovered stone was classified as L5/6. The L classification is for low metallic iron (4-10%) and the 5/6 rating for its petrologic state, not as an indication of iron content. The LL classification is for meteorites which are both low in total iron (19-22%) and low in metallic iron (0.3-3%). Both groups would exhibit weak attraction to a magnet though.

In addition to the 17 LL chondrites, there are 51 L Chondrites from India (with one classified as between L and LL).

So most probably an undocumented fall and a new meteorite find! Anyways I am thankful that it's a meteorite nonetheless. I live in an isolated place far from big cities and people here don't have such knowledge about meteorite so it does makes sense that it went undocumented. I remember my grandpa and the other old one's said that when they were young like 6 or 5 one night they saw a huge bright light flashing across the sky making rumbling sound and they'll said it was one of our Hindu mythical god travelling in his vehicle.

 

[Red-Coat]

So most probably an undocumented fall and a new meteorite find! Anyways I am thankful that it's a meteorite nonetheless. I live in an isolated place far from big cities and people here don't have such knowledge about meteorite so it does makes sense that it went undocumented. I remember my grandpa and the other old one's said that when they were young like 6 or 5 one night they saw a huge bright light flashing across the sky making rumbling sound and they'll said it was one of our Hindu mythical god travelling in his vehicle.

Well, it's high probability rather than confirmed.

If you were a bit more forthcoming about exactly where it was found, more could be said about the possibility of it aligning with a known fall.

 

[Het patel]

Well, it's high probability rather than confirmed.

If you were a bit more forthcoming about exactly where it was found, more could be said about the possibility of it aligning with a known fall.

Unfortunately kaprada is the only know fall which is least nearer from where I live.