Monday, September 1, 2008

Meteorites and Terrorists

Microscopic Thin Slice NWA 2140-CV3 Meteorite


The above image is a thin slice of a North West African meteorite put together at the All- Russian Geological Institute (VSEGI) thin section workshop. Quite interesting how they make thin sections, they cut down a thin slice of a meteorite, glue it on a microscopic slide then grind it down further so light passes through it so mineral composition research can be done on it. Got my hands on some slides and took some images with my microscope, notice the little black spherules, one theory is when a meteor breaks up and dissolves coming through our atmosphere the spherules survive because of their smallness and low surface area to become micrometeorites to land in your backyard to be collected be me as the below image.




Apparently I'm not the only one collecting meteorites from North West Africa, aka the Sahara Desert, Evil doer terrorists have finally caught on to the value of rocks from space, it's all about supply and demand, meteorites are very rare and there are tons of private collectors with lots of money willing to pay top dollar for these precious space rocks not knowing or caring that they are funding terrorist activities. Now why North West Africa meteorites? Well in the Sahara you have the perfect backdrop for finding meteorites, they stand out, no ground cover to hide the falls and the climate is such that there is no erosion for up to 50,000 years, and they even have maps of the best locals to find them, all the legal finds have to record the area in which the meteorite was found, below image.



Scientists are a little ripped about having to compete with the private collectors to obtain material for scientific research, there is a lot they can learn from meteorites such as the early formation of the solar system and our planet over 4.5 billion years ago. Some institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution won't import meteorites from North Africa knowing this area has become a haunt for smugglers and terrorists. So what can we learn from all this, well for one thing I am not a terrorist, don't belong to any cell group I'm aware of, and I have come by my NWA meteorite by legal means, but also if a meteorite lands on your car or house, it's all good, just think of the money you can make, take care of the deductible and money left over.

I'll leave you with an infrared animated image of a Sunrise I took a couple days ago.



28 comments:

Max Coutinho said...

Hello, Oh Lord of the Astropics!

I had never seen a microscopic image of a meteor (did I get it right?)...so interesting!

Wow...meteor-money! It's too bad no meteorite has ever fallen on my backyard...not even on my terrace *nodding*!

Now, this infrared photo is amazing! So beautiful, Bob...it calls for our romantic side! :)

Bob, thanks for sharing this with us; I have learned a few things today :D!

I wish you a great week!

Cheers

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

What an AMAZING microscopic image of a meteorite!!! All of a sudden I am thinking jewelry. :D

Bob, I must find a small meteorite now. You have me so into this. :D

The sunrise photo ROCKS!!!

What a life you have!!!

Blessings! JJ

S-V-H said...

Hi Bob,

your post is very interesting, again and the IR sunrise is beautiful! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge so we can learn a lot!

Thanks also for your kind comments on my blog. And Yeah, you are my first customer this year!!!! You made my day and THANK YOU very, very much! I'm so glad you liked the calendar. A little bit of my paradise from the South is now up there in the cool North - enjoy it! :-)

Anonymous said...

Ah, the infrared filter :)

Ah, the microphoto!

An, umm... last night I was talking to my neighbor who has a little (micro) boy. I asked him what he wants to do when he grows up and he said 'terrorist'. All of us were shocked to hear that, so unusual. Kids usually want to drive trucks or rockets. The little guy didn't know what a terrorist meant, but he said that everyone is always talking about them and they are on news all the time. pheww.... So many wannabe-terrorists, and its not even funny :)

btw your post title says 'Terriorists' :D Looks like after diamonds, astrostuff is precious in that region!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks max, I think I'm the only person I know hoping for a meteor to smash into my property,lol.

Glad you like the pics and the infrared Sunrise and you have a great week as well.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, good luck with the Meteor hunting, lol, probably lots on your property, hey get a metal detector, or a magnet, they are magnetic, Earth rocks aren't.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Susanne, the calendar was a great deal, awesome pics.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks about the title, I can't spell worth a crap, and there is no spell check on the title area.

Interesting you know someone who want's to be a terrorist,lol. Just goes to show you the power of the media.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

Wow! I want one of those little rocks. Then I could tell people that I have a meteor in my house! LOL! I really would like to have one but I don't want to support terrorists!

I loved the picture of the sunset so beautiful! You really do nice work! I love your site!

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

Sherer said...

Bob,

hmmm, you dont sound crazy to me (in regards to our possible unidentified terrestrial or extra friends)! Maybe one day you could do a post on it, that would be terrific!

Excellent stuff today. I think that new camera you got there is going to pay some great dividends.

Jesse

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks angelbaby, glad you like the Sunrise, hey if you want a meteorite, you can buy lots on ebay,lol.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse, there just might be a post regarding that happening someday, I am really liking the microscope camera, opening up a whole new world for me.\m/\m/

Swubird said...

Bob:

I loved the article about the micrometeors. I've never found a meteor myself - micro or otherwise. In fact, the only ones I've ever seen were at the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles.

I always enjoy your articles.

The water images were great.

Happy trails.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, I would love to see the meteorites at Griffith Park Observatory, mind you I would love to see Griffith Park Observatory period,lol.\m/\m/

Ruth said...

"Got my hands on some slides . . ." - I like how mysterious and a bit mischievous that sounds.

RW said...

Lets get into that business Bobbie!

Two Dishes said...

So, this type of meteorite collecting is not applicable to me in Brooklyn probably. : (

I ended up finding your blog serendipitously. I was downloading Linux to use in class (I'm taking a PERL class at the college here). The download took over an hour. And so I started listening to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe (not astronomy, just general debunking of Chinese Weather Control at the 2008 Olympics, Homeopathy, Astrology, etc.). And on SGTTU they started talking about Saturn's Walnut-Shaped moon. Which made me search it on Google Images. Which led me to your blog, which i read while my download finished up.

So anyway, greetings from a basement in Manhattan at the Hunter College library!

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, Ruth, that's me alright.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Anytime Roger,lol, hey warm climate and we get to use metal detectors and ride camels.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

two dishes very cool you ended up at my site, welcome neighbour. Pearl, very interesting, I remember my programming days way back in 1976, took basic and machine language,lol, we've come a long way since then.

I'll be dropping over to your's as well as Hunter College Library sites.

PS Check out the Google Chrome browser, it's awesome.\m/\m/

Oswegan said...

that is a really cool story bob.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks oswegan.\m/\m/

Marvin said...

Very cool! I can't believe that scientific institutions would deliberately shun artifacts from a particular place for political reasons. It's SCIENCE, people. Sigh.

Bob Johnson said...

You and me both see that point, unfortunately marvin, it's all about polictics far too often.\m/\m/

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