Space Weather

[Agent0013]

A friend of mine showed me two small iron meteorites he had. He then showed me how if he wet his thumb and index finger with spit and rubbed them on the meteorites, the 'bled'. They actually do. It turns a blood red oxide color and it will transfer onto your skin. You could theoretically paint your face with it. It stays on for a couple of days. When they're dry, they just look like little slate grey rocks of satiny looking iron (maybe an inch and a half around).

The dark rusty color on yours would have been an indication of some iron bits in there.

I have a tektite that I got at a rock shop. Tektites are a glass that is supposed to be 'splatter' from meteorite impacts. I guess they're considered semi-precious stones. It was thrown into a rock tumbler long ago, so don't really remember what the outside looked like. Polished, it's smooth, black and satiny shiny. Maybe an inch and a quarter long and 1/2" wide. It's pretty hard because I remember we ended up having to tumble it through two batches of rocks to to get THAT. A good cutter could likely get several cabuchons out of it.

We went to a museum in Texas, can't recall what city, but might have been Houston or near there. They had a collection of meteorites, and quite a few tectites. Some of each had been cut open, and I got to see the a variety of each's interiors.


I learned at that time that certain meteorites found in the Mexico through Texas and Arizona area and a bit farther north were magnetized. I think the name for those is magnetite. The small ones I was allowed to hold would pick up a stainless steel spoon or fork. Rather strong little magnets. Never learned how they gained to magnetic properties, but I know they had to be mostly iron in composition.


That was a very interesting trip for a 16 year old.

[sidherose]

Magnetite is ferrous oxide mineral mined here on Earth. It's FE₃O₄

[Agent0013]

Magnetite is ferrous oxide mineral mined here on Earth. It's FE₃O₄

Thanks for that info, Rayvn. In that case, I don't know what magnetized meteorites are called.


Hold a bit, looking it up...


Well my research comes up empty. Perhaps you can find it better than I?

[sidherose]

Thanks for that info, Rayvn. In that case, I don't know what magnetized meteorites are called.


Hold a bit, looking it up...


Well my research comes up empty. Perhaps you can find it better than I?

Magnetite may have been what he had but didn't know what it was and assumed he knew??? Ya'll may have been 'put on'  by the guide, owner or whomever. Which is weird because magnetite is a crystalline structure, predominantly. It does have other things in it as a matrix, but visually crystalline structure.

Chondrite (iron) meteorites can be detected by magnets but are not magnets in themselves.

My search was "can meteorites be magnetized?"

I got this:

http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/id/magnetic.htm

[sidherose]

Magnetite is also known as 'loadstone' because of the ability to expose it to magnets and magnetize it. It's structure is apparently 'di-polar', so it can both repel and attract.  Not from the same end, obviously. Lol. 

[dRaCX]

Magnetite is also known as 'loadstone' because of the ability to expose it to magnets and magnetize it. It's structure is apparently 'di-polar', so it can both repel and attract.  Not from the same end, obviously. Lol.

Wow, that's exactly like my sister Lora Ann. A whole chicken is attracted to her mouth and repelled out the other end! Sooooo....she's a loadstone???
 

[Jherrith]

That is certainly a "film at eleven" I don't want to see

[dRaCX]

That is certainly a "film at eleven" I don't want to see

Oh come now, you know you wanna!
 

Fits right in with the black hole theory.
 

[Agent0013]

Magnetite may have been what he had but didn't know what it was and assumed he knew??? Ya'll may have been 'put on'  by the guide, owner or whomever. Which is weird because magnetite is a crystalline structure, predominantly. It does have other things in it as a matrix, but visually crystalline structure.

Chondrite (iron) meteorites can be detected by magnets but are not magnets in themselves.

My search was "can meteorites be magnetized?"

I got this:

http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/id/magnetic.htm

So this article is saying iron/nickle meteorites cannot be magnets, however there is no reason in the article that explains why. If I may hazard a guess, I would say the most likely reason would be that the heat generated by the fall through the atmosphere might demagnetize such a meteorite? But if that is the case, how is it that the Earth's core generates the planet's own magnetic field? The core is known to be under extreme pressure and heat, and is at least partially in a molten state.


There are lots of things in space that have yet to be discovered, so I will take the wait and see position. We just may be delivered a big surprise on this as well.

[Agent0013]

Wow, that's exactly like my sister Lora Ann. A whole chicken is attracted to her mouth and repelled out the other end! Sooooo....she's a loadstone???
 

Where's the giant tear laugh emoji? That is so funny!