[meteorite-list] RE: NWA & Saharan meteorites

From: Ginger Mayfield <chikadee_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:42:01 2004
Message-ID: <3A69CF19.8E735D09_at_earthlink.net>

I am writing this from my own perspective as a small time
collector with an astronomy background who has only been
collecting for about two years. I realize I may not be
seeing the *big picture* but wanted to add my views to the
discussion. Probably most of us cringe at the thought of
nomads picking up meteorites, throwing them in a bag and
eventually taking them to market somewhere to sell to
whomever comes along. Not nearly as appealing as the idea
of a meteorite loving adventurer or scientist finding a
meteorite, carefully documenting it, having it classified,
named and made official and recognized. I too love the
stories, Matt. The idea of boxes of meteorites with no
names, no stories, and apparently not even enough people
interested in having them classified is not a pretty picture
and tends, in my opinion, to devalue them. Finding
meteorites one at a time seems to make them a lot more
special. Having said all that, I still have to remember that
no matter how they are collected or what their monetary
value they are still incredibly special as they come to us
from a time when our solar system was first forming and have
survived passage through our atmosphere and been found
before being destroyed by Earth's environment. Just think
how each of us would feel if we found even one of these
*commom* rocks from space!! Those of you who have found
them will know this first hand. Some meteorites are ugly
and some are beautiful and everything in between. As
several have already said, beauty is in the eye of the
beholder and I notice that my own idea of what is beautiful
and interesting has changed somewhat over time. I like
specimens with a nice shape, and beauty which can be seen
with a microscope as well as with the naked eye. I have
several most beautiful NWA's and will continue to collect
them although I do like to at least have a classification
and a name would be nice too. I hope we won't let the
current situation with the NWA's diminish our sense of
wonder and fascination with these messengers from space.
Just my two cents worth.

Ginger
Received on Sat 20 Jan 2001 12:47:05 PM PST