[meteorite-list] Hot Desert Meteorites

From: Greg Redfern <gredfern_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:54:05 2004
Message-ID: <NBBBJPGEPBMHMOJGKPFFGEALCEAA.gredfern_at_earthlink.net>

Amen, Bernd!

   I am very new to collecting meteorites but have loved them since my very
earliest days - a walk to the bottom of Meteor Crater and a passion for
astronomy will do that to you. It is as I said to Mark Miconi recently, how
incredible it is to own and touch a piece of the Universe. I am sure that
all list members would love to travel beyond our planet's atmosphere - but
never, ever will. So, the very best next thing is to bring a piece of
another world into your own home and hold it in your hands.

   Couple that with the ability to actually SEE the world it came from
through a telescope and "now your talkin'!" Hold a piece of NWA 482 and then
look at the Moon - no doubt as to where it came from. Look at an HST shot of
Mars and then look at DAG 476 - "it ain't from this planet, that's for
sure". Peer at the celestial dot that is Vesta and then look at a AEUC from
Australia - how alien but also how beautiful. It's beyond my wildest dreams
to be able to do so.

  Last thought. Commercialization of these items is the only reason why we
are able to own them. Our passion, scientific inquiries, and careful
possession of these celestial treasures is what gives them meaning. I know
that we will never lose sight of that.

Warmest Regards Fellow List Members,
Greg Redfern
IMCA #5781

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Bernd
Pauli HD
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2002 7:02 AM
To: LABENNE METEORITES
Cc: dean bessey; meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] Hot Desert Meteorites


Luc a écrit:

> ... and about the NWA, those returned recently from Marocco
> say that the quantity they saw in not so bigger that before.


Bonjour Luc, Hello List,

I was just reading Christian Pinter's article about the 2001 Mineral and
Gem Show in Munic in Meteorite, Feb 2002, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 38-39,
when your post arrived here. There are three remarks in Christian's
article that I would like to share with all of us:

1. Bruno:

"But today there is only one tenth of what
had been found in Morocco two years ago."

2. Ahmed Pani:

"There is really less material coming from the Sahara now."

3. Erich Haiderer:

"There is still enough out there for decades to come."

> For me there are not good or bad meteorites, there are well documented or
> poorly documented meteorites, well preserved or weathered meteorites, nice
> or bad looking meteorites and scientifically important or not meteorites,
with
> all the intermediate states.

I absolutely agree with the above words! Very often conversations about
our love for meteorites oscillate between how exotic, common, or
historical they are, and, on the other hand we complain (!) about the
decreasing prices and monetary values of our Hot Desert meteorites. One
list member wrote to me in a private mail that prices for historical
falls like - say, Juvinas, Steinbach, etc. - will never decrease as much
as the prices for those classified or unclassified NWAs. Again our views
are shifting towards the financial investigation and away from our
enthusiasm for those "heavenly messengers". A lunar is a lunar, a
Martian is a Martian. I for my part collect meteorites because I love
them, not because I want to investigate and make profits - after all I
am not a dealer but a collector.

When we started collecting these asteroidal "crumbs" many years ago, we
said: "Oh, if I only had a eucrite in my collection!" Now some of us
will say: "A eucrite would be OK ... what? It's a NWA! ... and there are
no coordinates, no total weight, ... ah, well I think I had better buy a
Stannern eucrite. Thus I won't lose my money!

And now a quick glance at Stannern in my database:

Stannern: brecciated; monomict; noncumulate

And, as a comparison, one of those Hot Desert meteorites:

Sahara 98110: brecciated; monomict

Any difference? OK, I know the Sahara 98110 does have coordinates which
the Labennes will disclose at a later time, but do coordinates make a
eucrite a eucrite? A scientifical approach to this problem would be
different (see my post re: "NWA meteorites blessing or omen? / Wed, 13
Feb 2002) but, again, I am not a meteoriticist, I am a collector!

Best wishes,

Bernd

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Received on Sat 16 Feb 2002 09:41:30 AM PST