• Material used to attach the meteorite to the jewel: stainless steel
• Type: Iron meteorite / IIIE-an
• Location: Xinjiang, China
• Weight: 2.7-3.5g
• Dimensions: 1.9 x 0.9 x 0.2 cm
• Surface treatment: none - Raw
• Note: chain NOT included, photo is for illustration only
• The price is for 1 piece
• DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Aletai meteorite belongs to the IIIE group, a specific type of iron meteorite. This classification refers to meteorites with a particular chemical composition and crystallographic structure. Meteorites in this group generally have an octahedral structure, meaning that when cut and polished, they show particular patterns called Widmanstätten figures. IIIE meteorites, like Aletai, are characterized by the presence of kamacite (low-nickel iron) and taenite (high-nickel iron) bands that form the typical octahedral pattern. Aletai is exceptional because it has the highest concentration of gold in the IIIE group and a significantly higher iridium concentration compared to other meteorites in this group. Since the amount of iridium in meteorites is much higher than that found in the Earth's crust, it was the unusually high concentration of iridium found at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, about 65 million years ago, that formed the basis of the theory that the impact of a giant meteorite could have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. It was discovered in 1898 in the Xinjiang region and the total mass found is estimated to be around 100 tons. The largest single fragment weighs 28 tons, making it the fifth largest meteorite ever found on Earth. The dispersion field was extremely vast, extending up to 500 kilometers, initially causing errors in the identification of the various fragments and the use of different names such as Armanty, Ulasitai, and others. After chemical and petrographic analyses, it was discovered that all fragments came from the same event and had the same composition. Today, they all bear the unified name Aletai, while the other names have become historical synonyms. An interesting aspect is that by changing the angle of illumination, the reflectivity of the two main alloys present in the meteorite also changes, making the sample appear shiny. This effect is common in meteorites with an octahedral crystalline structure, but Aletai is particularly spectacular thanks to the shiny, mirror-like inclusions of the mineral Schreibersite. Schreibersite is believed to have been one of the main sources of phosphorus carried to Earth by meteorites and may have played a fundamental role in the origin of life. It is a rare mineral composed of iron and nickel phosphide, but it is commonly found in iron meteorites. Its color varies from bronze to brassy yellow to silvery white. Schreibersite is named after the Austrian scientist Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers, one of the first to identify this mineral in iron meteorites. This rare mineral has been discovered in several meteorites around the world, including the Magura meteorite in Slovakia, the Sikhote-Alin meteorite in Eastern Russia, the São Julião de Moreira meteorite in Viana do Castelo, the Gebel Kamil meteorite in Egypt, and many other meteorites, including those from the Moon.