Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
Greetings, This looks fun so here are my answers. --AL Mitterling 1) When did you start collecting? (how long ago) Officially 1986/7 but first purchase of meteoritic material was in 1966 2) What first interested you about meteorites? Going to Meteor(ite) Crater in the 1960's and seeing their display as well as going to the Field Museum in Chicago and looking at specimens. 3) What was your first meteorite purchase, and from whom? Canyon Diablo from Meteor(ite) Crater 4) How many meteorites or localities do you currently have in your collection? Well over 350 unique locations. 5) If you had to know for insurance purposes, what do you value your entire collection at? - in dollars - ballpark figure OK, or just say none of your business. Can't comment on this. 6) What is your favorite meteorite and why? I have many but one is a 7 gram full lunar slice. Growing up during the Apollo era and seeing a lunar specimen brought back from the Moon, I always hoping that some would come on the market and with the Lunar Meteorite finds that dream came true and I have a number of nice Lunar Specimens now. 7) Have you ever found a meteorite in the field? Several but no cold finds. I have hunted Holbrook with some success, Odessa and Park Forest. 8) Did you ever get the deal of a lifetime on a meteorite? If so, what was it? I've purchase a number of great lifetime specimens. One was a Camel Donga 600 gram whole. 9) Did you ever go through the ordeal of a lifetime to obtain a meteorite? If so, please explain. Yes, but that is just dealing. Many of my Indiana specimens are just that, including a full slice of Noblesville, Indiana a 20 gram, one if not the only one of the full slices left. Same with my Lafayette, Indiana Martian Specimen. 10) Have you ever consumed meteoritic material? (If so, how or under what circumstances?) No, I think that is sort of silly, I have rescued some from that fate and have sold them. Probably everyone eats microscopic material that settles down on crops or gardens. 11) Does your spouse share your meteorite passion, is ambivalent towards it, or resents it? She is reasonably interested in my collection pieces and often hangs around when I am finishing specimens for others or myself that don't look good and then likes to see the transformation after I am finished. She see my yearly sales so doesn't complain. A few purchases have made her eyebrows rise a little, especially the 5 figure ones. 12) Have you ever let a bill go unpaid or late to buy a meteorite? Delayed payment but only a week or 10 days. 13) A perfectly oriented, fully crusted, baseball-sized, lunar meteorite crashes through your roof and lands in your lap while you are reading this. It's the most gorgeous aesthetically-superior specimen you have ever seen - like Lafayette, but better. It legally belongs to you. What do you do with it? Keep it of course but share it with others. (I saw someone else say they would cut it in half that is meteorite sac-religious!!!) I would permit a core to be taken and studied for classification. I'd send it to Alan Rubin! Waitthere is some noise.ouch!!!#$%%@ a lunar just crashed through my roof If you believe that I've got a bridge I'll sell you. 14) Statistics have caught up with someone. Anne Hodges will no longer be the only documented person to be struck by a falling meteorite. Assuming the next person struck could be anyone and you could pick that person, who would it be? (silly answers only, nothing mean or political) The Mbale fall struck a boy in the strewn field (see Sky and Telescope) Hummm.anyonethere is a few people on the...never mind. 15) You are awarded the honor of selecting one specimen to keep from any meteorite collection in the world. What would it be? That's a hard one to answer but I think the Springwater that Nininger found from ASU would be my first choice but I have many. 16) Have you ever sold or donated your entire collection, and then had to rebuild it? No, but I donate specimens to various places and people like teachers. I have brokered collections that collectors wanted to go to a museum. 17) Summarize what you think about tektites in one sentence. Mysterious interesting differentiated glassy objects that are probably a result of terrestrial impact. 18) Which do you prefer - thin sections, whole specimens, slices, or end cuts? By thin sections are you referring to slides?? I collect whole specimens, slices of same and if possible a thin section slide of same. (thank you Bernd for getting me started. :-) 19) Do you collect meteor wrongs? Yes, since I have many people send in items to me all the time, the ones I don't send back or throw out on the big pile out back, I keep to show people what various meteor wrongs look like. 20) Have you ever dropped a tiny crumb of a rare meteorite and lost it?
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
Having a few spare minutes, and reacting as did Al Mitterling, I offer the following: (for entertainment purposes only; the following is the opinion of my home institution or, possibly, any other rational body...) | | 1) When did you start collecting? (how long ago) 3yrs? About. (or maybe, ten years ago, see below) To create a class on solar system genesis with actual examples. | 2) What first interested you about meteorites? The presence of serpentine minerals, indication that water was present on the parent bodies (please note this is dominantly in HED class). Something I am interested in is the link between ultramafic rocks, serpentinization and tectonic emplacement, and the ecological and social implications/benfits, etc. of serpentinites. Also, they represent samples of mantle materials that are impossible to obtain on Earth (core-mantle boundary, etc.) | 3) What was your first meteorite purchase, and from whom? Bassikounou, Michael Wilde, because I think it is a beautiful stone (no serpentinites, though) | 4) How many meteorites or localities do you currently have in | your collection? Probably 400 localities, I don't keep track, Microsoft Access does. | 5) If you had to know for insurance purposes, what do you | value your entire collection at? - in dollars - ballpark | figure OK, or just say none of your business. A lot. Too scary to think about, and I don't think they'll pay off anyway. (Not in the class of six or seven figures, like a dealer or anything, though) Wy past my budget for aforementioned class. | 6) What is your favorite meteorite and why? D'Orbigny, because I can't pronounce it and it might be from Mercury (oh, no, let's not start that thread up again...) and Mercury is my ruling sign. (oh, wait that's sooo seventies..) Actually, I'm lying, I can pronounce it, I can even pronounce Muonionalusta, although I can't pronounce Eyjafjallajokull, I'm not even sure I can spell it (or anything in Gaelic, for that matter..) Bassikounou, because for some reason I can't explain, I just like the way it looks. I guess. I don't really have a favorite, they are all specimens to me(sacreligious as that may be to a collector...) | 7) Have you ever found a meteorite in the field? Yes, in 1999 on a glacier in the high Arctic in Canada (oh, wait, did I just type that? The Mounties'll be after me now...). Really, it was legitimate scientific research; I was there to collect a thermochron sequence to date the uplift rate of the Princess Margarets, and we were discussing the igneous provinces (as I recall we were in the Jurrasic at the time). I picked up a rock on the glacier, wondering how it got there. Later, someone pointed out that things on glaciers are likely to be meteorites, having fallen there. (It's a small one, like a little pebble...don't get any ideas). On second thought, maybe I didn't find it there... We got in enough trouble over stealing Canadian intellectual heritage on that trip Did visit the Devon site where they tested the Martian rovers, though. That was pretty cool. | | 8) Did you ever get the deal of a lifetime on a meteorite? | If so, what was it? Don't think so. Pretty close to retail for everything. Except maybe an Odessa chunk that I got a pretty good deal on. I've had a few kind contributions, but I didn't seek them, so they weren't 'deals' I guess. Apparently gave the deal of a lifetime once... | | 9) Did you ever go through the ordeal of a lifetime to obtain | a meteorite? If so, please explain. Getting back from the glacier was an ordeal. A supposed 12 mile trek was more like 25. The running gag was, we need to make it back by nightfall (this was July at 80° N lat.). We went up and down mountains, down a 200 foot talus slope at the bottom of which was a glacial river that we rolled 800 pound rocks into that vanished instantly beneath the glacier (don't fall in...). One of the field team twice fell into arctic streams where we had to go fish her out; at one point the team leader led us into a box canyon which ended in a basalt dike that we couldn't get around, cut by the glacial river that we couldn't cross, so we had to climb back up the mountain to get around the canyon (after that, I led, as I had the GPS). This story does go on, but it occurs to me that this is just getting back, not actually an effort to find a meteorite, so I'm not really answering the question... | | 10) Have you ever consumed meteoritic material? (If so, how | or under what circumstances?) I am made of meteoritic material, aren't you? But, no, I don't eat my specimens (wouldn't that be cannibalism?). | | 11) Does your spouse share your meteorite passion, is | ambivalent towards it, or resents it? She has no problem with it, but isn't particularly interested (she is also a scientist, but with a somewhat different focus) | | 12) Have you ever let a bill go unpaid or late to buy a meteorite? (which Bill? Kies'?) No, of course not,
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
- Original Message - From: Galactic Stone Ironworks meteoritem...@gmail.com To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 11:29 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :) 1) When did you start collecting? (how long ago) Approximately 6 years ago 2) What first interested you about meteorites? The fact that the etch pattern on a Gibeon meteorite formed in the vacuum of space over a period of 4.2 billion years--fascinating! 3) What was your first meteorite purchase, and from whom? A slice of Gibeon from someone named George K. at a little rock store in the Fantastic Swap Meet in Las Vegas! He also sold me little pieces of Esquel and Imilac and then the rest is history. 4) How many meteorites or localities do you currently have in your collection? About 205. Never thought about figuring the number localities. 5) If you had to know for insurance purposes, what do you value your entire collection at? - in dollars - ballpark figure OK, or just say none of your business. A lot! LOL 6) What is your favorite meteorite and why? Fukang translucent slice 7) Have you ever found a meteorite in the field? No 8) Did you ever get the deal of a lifetime on a meteorite? If so, what was it? Etched Glorieta killer slice from the main mass 9) Did you ever go through the ordeal of a lifetime to obtain a meteorite? If so, please explain. Yes, perpetually working to pay the next one off!! 10) Have you ever consumed meteoritic material? (If so, how or under what circumstances?) Not that I know of unless a sniff of Murchison went up my nose! 11) Does your spouse share your meteorite passion, is ambivalent towards it, or resents it? He shares the results of my collecting. He likes to show it off and explain everything when guests come over. 12) Have you ever let a bill go unpaid or late to buy a meteorite? No but I've sacrificed a lot to get what I want! 13) A perfectly oriented, fully crusted, baseball-sized, lunar meteorite crashes through your roof and lands in your lap while you are reading this. It's the most gorgeous aesthetically-superior specimen you have ever seen - like Lafayette, but better. It legally belongs to you. What do you do with it? Have it classified and share what's necessary for science, and the rest would be center showcase. 14) Statistics have caught up with someone. Anne Hodges will no longer be the only documented person to be struck by a falling meteorite. Assuming the next person struck could be anyone and you could pick that person, who would it be? (silly answers only, nothing mean or political) N/A 15) You are awarded the honor of selecting one specimen to keep from any meteorite collection in the world. What would it be? Slice of Edmunton, Kentucky 16) Have you ever sold or donated your entire collection, and then had to rebuild it? No 17) Summarize what you think about tektites in one sentence. Only interested in Moldavite and LDG both of which are beautiful. 18) Which do you prefer - thin sections, whole specimens, slices, or endcuts? Everything but thin sectionshavn't ventured there yet. 19) Do you collect meteorwrongs? No 20) Have you ever dropped a tiny crumb of a rare meteorite and lost it? No Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone Ironworks Meteorites http://www.galactic-stone.com http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
1) 30 years ago 2) The interest in astronomy the fascination to be able to touch a piece of a celestial body (other than mine) with my very hands. 3) A Mundrabilla individual from Pope Walter Zeitschel 4) Not countless, but I never count them. 5) Meteorites get a monetary value only, if they are sold. The insurance would say, that they're irreplaceable and would refuse to cover them. And the scientific meaning and what they mean to me: Priceless. 6) My favourite has to be the unfound meteorite. 7) My strewnfield at home grows every week. Soon I have to buy a detector... 8) Several. Most painful was a collection of a couple of often freshly crusted stones, collected by a diplomat over decades on his travels through Russia in the 19th century. The heirs had lost all documentation and records about their identity. So they were like a box of UNWA OCs and I passed. 9) If meteorites begin to get the upper hand of your life, then it's time to quit collecting. 10) Yes. The human senses of taste and smell are the finest analytical instruments we have. Therefore... but to avoid health troubles, one should consume only fresh planetary materials like Moon and Mars. 11) Most meteorite people avoid to ask that question, cause they want to stay happy ;-) 12) No. (But inverse, I often get paid the bills for meteorites, I write, paid late.) 13) I'll make a photo. Then I'll cut it completely down into thousands of small slices and will distribute them as gifts among all these people, who accompanied me through these meteoritical years, and among my friends and my kin. And afterwards I'll slice down the roof and then the whole house into myriads of micromounts (including the photo) and sell them to the hammer collectors, acquiring so a legendary wealth. 14) If it will be a crater-maker: my tax office. If a tiny pebble only, perhaps people like Dr.Bevan as a thought-provoking impulse or any person I love. 15) King Tut's meteoritic dagger. 16) Yes 17) They are somewhat terrestrial. 18) Endcuts 19) I do my best to avoid that. 20) I like vacuum cleaners just as much as my cats do. Mike, my prize for having answered these question, was just today in my letter box. Thanks a lot! But will open it not before the weekend, when I'll have time to enjoy it. Best! Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Galactic Stone Ironworks Gesendet: Mittwoch, 28. Juli 2010 20:30 An: Meteorite List Betreff: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :) 1) When did you start collecting? (how long ago) 2) What first interested you about meteorites? 3) What was your first meteorite purchase, and from whom? 4) How many meteorites or localities do you currently have in your collection? 5) If you had to know for insurance purposes, what do you value your entire collection at? - in dollars - ballpark figure OK, or just say none of your business. 6) What is your favorite meteorite and why? 7) Have you ever found a meteorite in the field? 8) Did you ever get the deal of a lifetime on a meteorite? If so, what was it? 9) Did you ever go through the ordeal of a lifetime to obtain a meteorite? If so, please explain. 10) Have you ever consumed meteoritic material? (If so, how or under what circumstances?) 11) Does your spouse share your meteorite passion, is ambivalent towards it, or resents it? 12) Have you ever let a bill go unpaid or late to buy a meteorite? 13) A perfectly oriented, fully crusted, baseball-sized, lunar meteorite crashes through your roof and lands in your lap while you are reading this. It's the most gorgeous aesthetically-superior specimen you have ever seen - like Lafayette, but better. It legally belongs to you. What do you do with it? 14) Statistics have caught up with someone. Anne Hodges will no longer be the only documented person to be struck by a falling meteorite. Assuming the next person struck could be anyone and you could pick that person, who would it be? (silly answers only, nothing mean or political) 15) You are awarded the honor of selecting one specimen to keep from any meteorite collection in the world. What would it be? 16) Have you ever sold or donated your entire collection, and then had to rebuild it? 17) Summarize what you think about tektites in one sentence. 18) Which do you prefer - thin sections, whole specimens, slices, or endcuts? 19) Do you collect meteorwrongs? 20) Have you ever dropped a tiny crumb of a rare meteorite and lost it? -- Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone Ironworks Meteorites http://www.galactic-stone.com http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
15 months ago. Newbie! A picture I saw in a newspaper of Dr. Donald Brownlee of NASA holding NWA 5000 over his head with both hands and a big smile on his face. I bought my first meteorite from Robert Cucchiara (Meteorite Madness)in May of 2009. A triple cut and etched 2.7 kilo Campo with beautiful even regs and a couple of unusual troilite inclusions. It just jumped out of the monitor and said pick me! pick me!. One hundred and fifty six. I had to go count them just now. I think some must have mated. Probably a little Fukang going around the meso drawer. I don't mind talking money. It seems popular to do so today. I know how much I spent to the penny for those I purchased, and I can guess as to the value of the few I have received as gifts, and then there is the big chondrite I found which was just appraised. Probably, somewhere between $35,000 and $40,000 in acquisition, so the retail value would, I trust, be higher. A 2.1 gram crusted Nakhla individual with it's original British Museum collection card and release papers that has been keep unmolested-molested in a sterile container accompanied by an attribution letter from another major institution. It's my favorite because I'm hoping one night little green aliens will crawl out of it. Did I! Last May 5th. I went hunting with Sonny Clary in Pahrump Valley 45 minutes from my house in an area he said he had been working for over six years. Stepped out of the truck and limped a couple of hundred yards out into the desert and tripped over a 29 pound LL6 chondrite sticking four inches out of the sand. It was my first find. It turned out to be the largest individual stone meteorite found in Nevada. The Nakhla described above. No ordeals. It has all been a most pleasant experience except for one bump caused by a sobering lack of judgement. Yes. When I set about to polish the half of the big chondrite I found, I got my face right up on it as I was using the 600 grit and didn't realize I was breathing the particles until I coughed and sneezed black soot the next morning. The Countess, who generally eschews any activity I engage in, likes meteorites and the people associated with them. It might have something to do with that gorgeous Lapis Lazuli necklace a Moroccan made for her in Tucson. Not yet...but I can see it in my future. Pick it up with nitrile gloves and put it in sterile container. Pick up all the house debris and store it in bags by type. Call Allstate. Call the firm of Brownlee, Irving, Bunch and Hupe'. Me. No. Say again? I haven't studied enough specimens to have developed a preference. I'm sort of omnivorous at this point in my education. Unintentionally. Yes. I bought 4 mg of original Shergotty and when I opened the membrane box to look at the little Bessy specks under the scope they just flat disappeared. I discovered membrane boxes are like minature trampolines. I hope everyone who read these answers knows how happy I would be if they brought a smile, or two. Count Deiro IMCA 3536 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
Hi List, I forgot to answer if I could have any meteorite from any collection in the world. What would it be? I think I'd like to have the great Wilamette iron stuck on a concrete plinth in the middle of my front lawn. The kids could play on and in it. Count Deiro IMCA 3536 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
Stuart McDaniel Lawndale, NC Secr., Cleve. Co. Astronomical Society - Original Message - 1) When did you start collecting? (how long ago)May 2009 2) What first interested you about meteorites?I could actually hold something from space!! 3) What was your first meteorite purchase, and from whom?NWAxxx from John (moonman) 4) How many meteorites or localities do you currently have in your collection?63 5) If you had to know for insurance purposes, what do you value your entire collection at? - in dollars - ballpark figure OK, or just say none of your business.+/- 2000.00 6) What is your favorite meteorite and why?Either my Brenham(pallasites are the coolest!!)) or Almahatta Sitta(Unique) 7) Have you ever found a meteorite in the field?No 8) Did you ever get the deal of a lifetime on a meteorite? If so, what was it?A Dry Lake from Steve Arnold (MetMan) 9) Did you ever go through the ordeal of a lifetime to obtain aNo meteorite? If so, please explain. 10) Have you ever consumed meteoritic material? (If so, how or under what circumstances?)Hell no, it cost too much!!! 11) Does your spouse share your meteorite passion, is ambivalent towards it, or resents it?Appreciates it. 12) Have you ever let a bill go unpaid or late to buy a meteorite? No (not yet) LOL!! 13) A perfectly oriented, fully crusted, baseball-sized, lunar meteorite crashes through your roof and lands in your lap while you are reading this. It's the most gorgeous aesthetically-superior specimen you have ever seen - like Lafayette, but better. It legally belongs to you. What do you do with it? Do the Meteorite Dance also, send a sample for analysis, probably donate some samples, sell a few, and keep a BIG hunk 14) Statistics have caught up with someone. Anne Hodges will no longer be the only documented person to be struck by a falling meteorite. Assuming the next person struck could be anyone and you could pick that person, who would it be? (silly answers only, nothing mean or political)ME, ME, ME, ME 15) You are awarded the honor of selecting one specimen to keep from any meteorite collection in the world. What would it be? ALMAHATTA SITTA 16) Have you ever sold or donated your entire collection, and then had to rebuild it? Absolutely NOT!!! 17) Summarize what you think about tektites in one sentence. The look like turds. :^) 18) Which do you prefer - thin sections, whole specimens, slices, or endcuts?WHOLE 19) Do you collect meteorwrongs?NO 20) Have you ever dropped a tiny crumb of a rare meteorite and lost it? ALMOST, LOST A PIECE OF MY TAGISH LAKE -- Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone Ironworks Meteorites http://www.galactic-stone.com http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite 20 Questions - Answer and Share if youDare. :)
Greetings, Mike and all, 14) Statistics have caught up with someone. Anne Hodges will no longer be the only documented person to be struck by a falling meteorite. Assuming the next person struck could be anyone and you could pick that person, who would it be? (silly answers only, nothing mean or political) The Mbale fall, struck a boy in the head (small stone and no injury) and that is documented and there are a few others. Maybe Michael Blood or someone else could offer other examples. I can' think of any at the time being. Best! --AL Mitterling So Anne Hodges isn't the only person who has been stuck. __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
