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How to pick up a priceless meteorite?
china-meteorite2026-01-13 17:21:17Meteorite News62Source: china meteorite
Recently, a piece of news spread on various news platforms: there are many "meteorite hunters" in Zhumadian and other places in Henan, according to the description of these "meteorite hunters", "with a dream of getting rich overnight, in order to find meteorites, people everywhere in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou." "How much scientific knowledge is hidden behind this meteorite sudden wealth? Let's understand it from the following aspects!
"Meteorite Hunter"
Source丨China News Network
Meteorites are mainly divided into three categories, namely iron meteorites that are almost entirely composed of metals, stone iron meteorites with almost equal amounts of metal and silicate crystal components, and stone meteorites that mainly contain silicate minerals. The differences between different types of meteorites are mainly manifested in the different contents of iron and nickel metals. Meteorites can reveal the evolution of the early solar system in different ways. Let's give a brief introduction to these three types of meteorites.
Iron meteorites
Most iron meteorites are thought to have originated from the core of asteroids that melted early in history. They are mainly composed of iron, nickel metals, and small amounts of sulfide and carbide minerals. During the decay of radioactive elements in the early days of the solar system, many asteroids melted, and the iron they contained was dense, sinking to the center of the celestial body to form a metal core
Iron meteorite Source丨Network
Stone iron meteorites
Stony iron meteorites consist of almost equal amounts of iron, nickel metals and silicate minerals, including precious and semi-precious gemstones, which are considered one of the most beautiful meteorites. There are two different types of stone iron meteorites: olive meteorites and medium iron meteorites.
Stone iron meteorites
Source丨Network
meteorites
Most of the meteorites found are stony meteorites, mainly composed of silicate minerals. There are two main types of stone meteorites: chondrites (some of the oldest material in the solar system) and chondrites (including meteorites from asteroids, Mars, and the Moon). Depending on the composition, structure, and minerals they contain, chondrites and chondrites have many subgroups.
Stone meteorites
Source丨Wikipedia
Meteorites and craters
When it comes to meteorites, craters naturally come to mind. As the name suggests, craters are ring-shaped craters formed by meteorites impacting the surface of planets, satellites, asteroids, or other celestial bodies. Craters are usually circular, which is due to an explosion on impact that causes material to fly in all directions, rather than the meteorite that hits the ground itself has a spherical shape (in fact, most meteorites are not spherical). Craters are the most common surface feature on many solid planets and moons – both Mercury and the Moon are dotted with craters. So, what structures are there in craters?
Meteorites hit celestial bodies to create craters
Source丨See watermark
Bottom surface – The bottom of a crater has a flat surface or bowl-shaped, usually below the surrounding ground, and may contain marbled rock.Central Mountain – A mountain that forms in the central region at the base of a large crater. The crater smashed out of the large meteorite is very huge, and after the impact, the material in the crater will be pushed back to form a central mountain. Its formation principle is similar to the water column that appears after water droplets fall into the surface of the water.Walls – The inside of a crater is usually steep and may have huge stepped structures that are formed by the collapse of the walls due to gravity.Edge - The edge of a crater. The edges will be higher than the surrounding terrain because the impact force pushes the material inside the pit upwards on impact.Projectile – Rocky material ejected from the crater area during an impact event. It spreads outward from the edge of the crater. The ejecta can be loose material or a pile of debris around the impact crater, and the farther away from the impact crater, the less ejecta.Rays – Impacts sometimes produce distinct ray-like trails that extend long distances outward from the crater and are composed of ejected material.
crater
Source丨NASA
Here are several properties that help distinguish meteorites from other rocks:
Relatively dense: Meteorites usually contain metallic iron and dense minerals, so they will be heavier.Somewhat magnetic: Since most meteorites contain metallic iron, they are often magnetic. For some stone meteorites, the magnetic manifestation may not be obvious, but if the smaller magnets are hung with a string and brought close to the meteorite, they can be observed to be attracted.Unusual shape: iron-nickel meteorites are rarely round. Instead, they have an irregular shape with unusual pits on their surface, such as air imprints (pits that melt after entering the Earth at high speed, are blown out by air currents and remain on the surface of meteorites).Surface with molten shell: Stony meteorites usually have a thin crust on their surface because they melt as they pass through the atmosphere.
How much is a meteorite worth?
The price of meteorites has an international quote price. Common iron meteorites generally cost between $0.5 and $5 per gram, followed by rarer stone meteorites, which cost between $2 and $20 per gram. Due to the high density of meteorites, a high-quality meteorite the size of a small dinner plate can be worth thousands of dollars. High-quality meteorites can easily sell for $50 a gram, while rare lunar and Martian meteorites can sell for $1,000 per gram or more – almost 40 times the current price of gold! The rarest meteorites are stone iron meteorites, for example, meteorite NWA 12691, found in the Sahara Desert, weighing about 13.6 kg and worth more than $2.5 million.
Finally, it must be emphasized that this dream of getting rich by looking for rare meteorites outside the sky is a bit like a pie in the sky, which is lower than the probability of winning the jackpot in the lottery, and it is a dream after all. Instead of holding this unrealistic fantasy, it is better to work diligently, and working hard with your own hands is the right way to make a fortune.
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