Happy Stardust Friday, my friend! I’m happy to present a new micrometeorite recently photographed by myself and Jan Braly Kihle.
NMM 3451 is a smooth combined type micrometeorite with both scoriaceous (SC-type) and porphyritic olivine (PO-type) features. Measuring approximately 0.4 mm, NMM 3451 also has a partial chrome-bearing magnetite rim. It was collected outside Biorama Projekt in Joachimsthal, Germany this past August.
To me, this micrometeorite brings up very special memories, as our exhibition, “Space Rocks”, was on display at Biorama Projekt when I collected this lovely micrometeorite. Imagine! Beautiful space rocks on display in the gallery as yours truly was collecting more stardust outside!
I hope you enjoy seeing the beautiful new color picture and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images by Siri Simonsen and myself. The full SEM image shows the delightfully irregular magnetite rim and the detail SEM image reveals a rather unusual texture, as the chrome bearing magnetite has an ochtahedral arrangement, rather than the typical dendritic arrangement (Christmas tree).
As usual, if you have questions, please leave a reach out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter; I’m always happy to chat with a fellow micrometeorite enthusiast!
If you’d like to learn more about stardust, please visit our new website! We developed a full page that shares fascinating information about micrometeorites and another about our methodologies so you can try out star hunting yourself. Both of these pages are free to access!
Have an extraterrestrial weekend!
Yours truly,
Jon Larsen

