Micrometeorite | NMM 2487 - Trondheim | V-type
Code: 135Product detailed description
Billions of years ago, somewhere in the distant universe, there was a giant star. Its insatiable gravity fed an unimaginable amount of energy. Constantly converting lighter elements into heavier ones, it defied irreversible fate for hundreds of millions of years. But one day, the fuel ran out, and in a huge explosion, the star blew most of its mass as microscopic particles into deep space. Most of these grains of matter eventually formed into new suns, planets, moons or asteroids. But a large fraction of them have spent all their time travelling alone. As grains of dust, they came into existence, and as grains of dust they still exist today. Stardust.
One such speck has entered a collision course with Earth. It was lucky enough not to vaporize as it passed through the atmosphere. But the melting turned it into a beautiful bead with a metal ball on its edge. By continuing coincidence, it ended up in the hands of Jon Larsen.
What followed was a detailed examination under an electron microscope, a unique photographic process (which involves focusing and compositing dozens of partial photographs for maximum photo quality), and compositional analysis to definitively confirm the alien origin.
Micrometeorite NMM 2487 is a beautiful brownish V-type (glass) with a conical crystallisation triggered by a nickel-iron bead. Opposite the metal bead in the front is an open vesicle from degassing, revealing an internal void. The sensational feature of this ~0.3 mm micrometeorite is the “crackelated” (coined by Matthew Genge) surface of the glass, which is clearly layered. In the backscatter SEM images we can see that the inner layer is slightly more nickel-iron rich than the outer layer. This is one of only four micrometeorites from Project Stardust’s collection displaying the crackelation (coined by Matthew Genge) phenomenon. This is a unique museum quality micrometeorite, a jewel in any collection. It was found June 23, 2020, at Tiller, Trondheim, Norway.
If you decide to be one of the first private owners of a micrometeorite in the world and order it from us, you will get not only the stone itself, but everything you need to enjoy this natural unique to the fullest. The package includes an ultra-high resolution digital photograph, an autobiographical (signed by the author) Star Hunter book by Jon Larsen, and of course the meteorite itself along with a signed certificate of authenticity.
The stone is housed in a durable case with a covered slide-out microscope slide. It is therefore possible to enjoy its unique beauty at any time by observing it yourself under a microscope.
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Provenance: the catalog number refers to the NMM Archives, the index to Jon Larsen's Project Stardust collection, a reference collection for urban micrometeorites. The stone was found, managed and collected by Larsen and is in pristine condition, straight from space.