[meteorite-list] First opal-like crystals discovered in meteorite

From: Matthias Bärmann <majbaermann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 23:48:51 +0200
Message-ID: <20D263BEF65943C19FF5FDCB23EA5A18_at_thinkcentre>

I like my tiny Tagish fragment, and I like opals too. So the possible
combination of both of them sounds thrilling.

Thanks, Greg, for the news,

best regards,
Matthias

----- Original Message -----
From: "Thunder Stone" <stanleygregr at hotmail.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 10:51 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] First opal-like crystals discovered in meteorite



List:

Intersting,

Greg S


http://scienceblog.com/46855/first-opal-like-crystals-discovered-in-meteorite/


First opal-like crystals discovered in meteorite


Scientists have found opal-like crystals in the Tagish Lake meteorite, which
fell to Earth in Canada in 2000. This is the first extraterrestrial
discovery of these unusual crystals, which may have formed in the primordial
cloud of dust that produced the sun and planets of our solar system 4.6
billion years ago, according to a report in the Journal of the American
Chemical Society.
Katsuo Tsukamoto and colleagues say that colloidal crystals such as opals,
which form as an orderly array of particles, are of great interest to for
their potential use in new electronics and optical devices. Surprisingly,
the crystals in the meteorite are composed of magnetite, which scientists
thought could not assemble into such a crystal because magnetic attractions
might pack the atoms together too tightly. ?We believe that, if synthesized,
magnetite colloidal crystals have promising potential as a novel functional
material,? the article notes.

The formation of colloidal crystals in the meteorite implies that several
conditions must have existed when they formed. ?First, a certain amount of
solution water must have been present in the meteorite to disperse the
colloidal particles,? the report explains. ?The solution water must have
been confined in small voids, in which colloidal crystallization takes
place. These conditions, along with evidence from similar meteorites,
suggest that the crystals may have formed 4.6 billion years ago.?
______________________________________________
Visit the Archives at
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

__________ Hinweis von ESET Smart Security, Signaturdatenbank-Version 6348
(20110803) __________

E-Mail wurde gepr?ft mit ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com




__________ Hinweis von ESET Smart Security, Signaturdatenbank-Version 6348 (20110803) __________

E-Mail wurde gepr?ft mit ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com
Received on Wed 03 Aug 2011 05:48:51 PM PDT