✅ SOLVED Is it a meteorite?

[nat]

Hi, I found this in Wiltshire England. Can anyone recognise the mineral, or suggest if it looks like a meteorite or not?. I've measured its density, which i get at roughly 3.85 g/cc. It's about an inch across. It ticks a lot of boxes for being a meteorite, but it doesn't look smooth or molten on the outside. It's very weakly magnetic, (i can't feel it, but if i float it on a raft on water, i can pull it around with a magnet).

Thanks in advance,

Nat

 

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[Red-Coat]

Hi Nat, and welcome to Tnet.

Sorry, but that's not a meteorite.

Most meteorites exhibit significant attraction to a magnet, so you can immediately rule out nickel-iron classifications and all of the common classes of chondrites. Those that don’t exhibit significant attraction to a magnet typically belong to less common classifications such as low metal chondrites, carbonaceous chondrites or stony achondrites.

To be honest, it doesn’t “tick a lot of boxes for being a meteorite”. It has none of the following:

- Thin fusion crust which is darker than the interior
- Regmaglypts, aerodynamic sculpting, oriented flow lines or an ablation surface
- Impact shocking
- Chondrules

The exterior appearance and the radial striations visible in the broken interior look to be typical of a pyrite nodule (or a nodule rich in iron oxides with pyrite as a dominant mineral). Folks tend to think of pyrite as being golden in colour (as in ‘fool’s gold’) but it can weather to the kind of colour seen in your specimen. A freshly broken surface might reveal a more typical colour or a bronzy sheen. Pyrite (and most other iron minerals) are not attracted to a magnet, but the presence of small amounts of magnetite as a secondary mineral often creates a weak attraction.

 

[nat]

Hi Nat, and welcome to Tnet.

Sorry, but that's not a mateorite.

Most meteorites exhibit significant attraction to a magnet, so you can immediately rule out nickel-iron classifications and all of the common classes of chondrites. Those that don’t exhibit significant attraction to a magnet typically belong to less common classifications such as low metal chondrites, carbonaceous chondrites or stony achondrites.

To be honest, it doesn’t “tick a lot of boxes for being a meteorite”. It has none of the following:

- Thin fusion crust which is darker than the interior
- Regmaglypts, aerodynamic sculpting, oriented flow lines or an ablation surface
- Impact shocking
- Chondrules

The exterior appearance and the radial striations visible in the broken interior look to be typical of a pyrite nodule (or a nodule rich in iron oxides with pyrite as a dominant mineral). Folks tend to think of pyrite as being golden in colour (as in ‘fool’s gold’) but it can weather to the kind of colour seen in your specimen. A freshly broken surface might reveal a more typical colour or a bronzy sheen. Pyrite (and most other iron minerals) are not attracted to a magnet, but the presence of small amounts of magnetite as a secondary mineral often creates a weak attraction.

Hi Red Coat,

Thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply. Never mind, it was a nice dream. Still I've never found something like it before, so it's a keeper either way 🙂.

Cheers, Nat