Lunar Meteorite?

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

 

Hi. Good afternoon to everyone.

 

I bought this meteorite on our favorite auction site. It was listed as Lunar Meteorite. Is it real? I thank you for all the help and opinions.

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

[ynot]

I know nothing about meteorites.

[Raggedy Man]

To be perfectly frank, you can't tell just by looking at it with the unaided eye. It would need to be looked at by a professional under a SEM(scanning electron microscope). This doesnt look like any meteorite I've seen. Did they classify it as a chondrite or achondrite? 

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

26 minutes ago, Raggedy Man said:

To be perfectly frank, you can't tell just by looking at it with the unaided eye. It would need to be looked at by a professional under a SEM(scanning electron microscope). This doesnt look like any meteorite I've seen. Did they classify it as a chondrite or achondrite? 

 

Hello my Friend. In the advertisement, the seller describes as Achondrite Lunar Meteorite. And to be frank, I believe this material is not so different from other Achondrites Lunar Meteorites that we can find in Google Images. I do not understand anything about meteorites at all, but I think it's real compared to other images. But I know the confirmation is only through a professional in the area.

[Tidgy's Dad]

If it is, it is just a piece broken off, not the whole meteorite, as you well know, my friend from so far away

From where on Earth does it originate? 

I used to have quite a lot of meteorites and tektites, only a half dozen left now, and none from the moon. 

[Bobby Rico]

I really hope this is a moon rock. I would love to have one for my collection. If you do get it to an expert please let us know the outcome.  I don’t have any meteorites.   

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

32 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

If it is, it is just a piece broken off, not the whole meteorite, as you well know, my friend from so far away

From where on Earth does it originate? 

 

Hello my dear friend who lives so far away!

The seller describes this Achondrite Lunar Meteorite as follows:

Lunar Meteorite from KREEP Basalt to Lunar Granite Silica Polymorphs in Lunar Granite

These meteorites, according to the seller, were discovered in the groups (from KREEP Basalt to Lunar Granite). Taiwan (2014).

 

Huge hug for you and your whole family!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Mmmm

https://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg126583.html

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

23 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Mmmm

https://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg126583.html

 

I do not know not my dear friend! I believe we are stuck in a vicious circle here. There is no way I confront the seller because there is no absolute proof what it is, but there is also no absolute proof that it is not.

 

In addition, it is a material very similar to the official lunar meteorites scattered around the world. Arriving here, I'll send for analysis.

 

Huge hug! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

16 minutes ago, Seguidora-de-Isis said:

 

I do not know not my dear friend! I believe we are stuck in a vicious circle here. There is no way I confront the seller because there is no absolute proof what it is, but there is also no absolute proof that it is not.

 

In addition, it is a material very similar to the official lunar meteorites scattered around the world. Arriving here, I'll send for analysis.

 

Huge hug! 

Yes, analysis is the only way to be sure. 

I could buy 100 moon rocks and 1000 meteorites here in my medina alone tomorrow if i choose. 

I personally think they're none of them real, even though both do occur in Morocco. 

I wish you well and ginormous hugs. 

[JohnJ]

With respect, I know little of meteorites; however, without professional analysis and identification provenance, there would be very little in these photographs to distinguish it billions of similar looking Earth derived rocks. 

 

[Auspex]

Is that quartz in it? I think that would pretty much disprove it right there...

[FrozenFlame]

Hmm, does the seller provide an actual classification for the meteorite, as in, is it a classified find? Also, is the seller a IMCA member?

 

I did a quick google search and it apart from a really lengthy post on the auction site, I don't see anything where the meteorite would be classified. You can use the LPI meteor bulletin to cross-reference a classified meteorite, but if it's unclassified, there isn't a way to distinguish this between any other rock. 

 

If anyone is after a lunar meteorite, there are quite a few of NWA-XXXX meteorites that have a lunar origin at a relatively reasonable price, but I would only purchase a classified meteorite listed in the LPI, and from a IMCA member as a check and balance. 

[goatinformationist]

I am not hopeful that the item is genuine.  In my experience NASA would be the better arbiter for a certain designation.

For fun please peruse this dynamic site for great meteor porn: https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/amn/amn.cfm#n411 . 

Best.

[Kane]

Check for the composition of the piece. Lunar regloliths, for example, have been studied. It may be a meteorite, but what makes it from moon disjecta? Probabilistically, it would be more likely to have a non-lunar sourced meteorite than one that originates from an impact via the moon.

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 hours ago, Auspex said:

Is that quartz in it? I think that would pretty much disprove it right there...

?

Quartz occurs on the moon. 

The moon is a little over  40% oxygen and roughly 20% silicon. 

Lots of quartz has been observed in rocks there. 

[Walt]

1 minute ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

?

Quartz occurs on the moon. 

The moon is a little over  40% silicon and roughly 20% silicon. 

Lots of quartz has been observed in rocks there. 

But would quartz survive earth entry in such pristine condition?

[Tidgy's Dad]

13 minutes ago, Walt said:

But would quartz survive earth entry in such pristine condition?

I rather exaggerated saying 'lots of' but it does occur. 

Quartz does occur in its normal form, but is quite rare. 

But lots of 'glassy' melted rocks including silicates occur. 

Your point is a good one, any quartz or silicate would probably be melted. 

If the quartz is a primary mineral it is probably not from the moon. 

" There are some rare and small lunar samples with 50-70% SiO2, because they contain tridymite, quartz or volcanic glass". 

These include granites.

http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/howdoweknow.htm

 

[Wrangellian]

I've been tempted for a while to acquire one small meteorite for my collection (only got one tektite), but it's a minefield out there, isn't it? Or else it's going to require a fair amount of research to become an informed buyer.

[Wrangellian]

4 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

?

Quartz occurs on the moon. 

The moon is a little over  40% silicon and roughly 20% silicon. 

Lots of quartz has been observed in rocks there. 

Silicon and silicon? Should one of those be 'silica' or 'silicates'?

[FrozenFlame]

5 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

I've been tempted for a while to acquire one small meteorite for my collection (only got one tektite), but it's a minefield out there, isn't it? Or else it's going to require a fair amount of research to become an informed buyer.

I've got quite a few now (I should really just focus on meteorites or fossils, having two expensive hobbies isn't a very good idea!), but it is going to take a bit of research because there are quite a large variety of meteorites in terms of composition. Different compositions mean different look and feel, and also price. Also depends if you have freeform meteorite, slices of meteorites, tumbled meteorites, etc. 

 

Collecting old things are expensive... 

[Wrangellian]

Tell me about it, I collect more than one kind of 'old thing' and it's never cheap!

Could just collect beach rocks, but probably after a while you'd start to get deeper into it and it would become expensive too...

[Bobby Rico]

1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

I've been tempted for a while to acquire one small meteorite for my collection (only got one tektite), but it's a minefield out there, isn't it? Or else it's going to require a fair amount of research to become an informed buyer.

Me too and  for years . Also I don’t know where to start.

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

Silicon and silicon? Should one of those be 'silica' or 'silicates'?

Oh, dear.

I've got a terrible headache. 

That should read a little over 40% oxygen and 20% silica, the elements needed to form quartz. 

Sorry, and thanks, I've edited the original post. 

[Auspex]

7 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

?

Quartz occurs on the moon. 

The moon is a little over  40% oxygen and roughly 20% silicon. 

Lots of quartz has been observed in rocks there. 

According to this pdf, on the second page:

"...the silica (SiO2) minerals (e.g., quartz), although abundant on Earth, are notably rare on the Moon."