Are eBay meteorites real?

January 6, 2008 9:52 AM

My friend has received some good-natured abuse for purchasing this supposed meteorite on eBay for $79. In his defense it did come with an official ink-jet certificate. How can we determine if this really is a meteorite? We'd like to continue goofing on him only if it is deserved. If it turns out he's right, we will gladly stop and apologize. (And go back to making fun of his curious interest in American Doll stores.)
posted by thesneeze to science & nature (16 comments total)

How Do you know if it is a meteorite?
posted by popcassady at 10:02 AM on January 6, 2008

Here's a link I found by googling for "meteorite authentication". It lists a bunch of places you can go for meteorite testing. Most meteorites do have a sort of "glassy" feel to them (from what I've read), and his seems to exhibit this, so... I dunno. Hopefully you/he can get it tested and determine once and for all.
posted by Verdandi at 10:05 AM on January 6, 2008

...I suppose the best people to ask would be geologists. This forum looks like a good place to ask the question.
posted by popcassady at 10:05 AM on January 6, 2008

Size/weight would be a good indication. For under $100, I would be surprised by anything over an inch or two long. I would also check out the density; meteors are very heavy compared to normal rocks. Beyond that you'll probably need to talk to an actual geologist. They might want to grind part of it off, since the interior is usually more distinctive than the outside.
posted by kiltedtaco at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2008

A chemist (taking a small fragment of your meteor) will be able to pretty reliably judge it based on chemical composition. Meteors are made of different mixes of minerals than earth rocks. Of course, if you've already seen a picture of your rock in the "meteorwrongs" section of popcassady's link, you won't need to go further.
posted by TeatimeGrommit at 10:38 AM on January 6, 2008

Does that certificate say that the rock was found in the year 1576?
posted by Pants! at 11:10 AM on January 6, 2008

It does say 1576. The Campo del Cielo looks like a well-known meteorite field.

If the rock is magnetic, that would be a good clue to authenticity. Will it pick up paper clips, or other small, ferrous material?
posted by steef at 11:18 AM on January 6, 2008

It's not exactly difficult to buy meteorites. Any good "rock shop" will have a good selection of various sizes. They do tend to get exponentially more expensive as they get larger, probably because it's much easier to find small samples and they aren't as displayable.

meteors are very heavy compared to normal rocks

On the certificate, it looks like it's a little bigger than a golf ball, and it weighs over a pound. So, pretty dense.
posted by smackfu at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2008

I don't know, if I was faking a certification of meteorite genuineness, I think I would make up a more science-y sounding than "Meteorite Madness." If you want to call that logic...
posted by nanojath at 3:13 PM on January 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

That name you gave made it easy to look them up on eBay. Meteorite Madness. I don't see any reason to question their legitimacy. They have 100% feedback on over 1000 transactions, and list a lot of high value items.
posted by smackfu at 3:35 PM on January 6, 2008

You could take it to your local college or university geology department and ask. Or look into a local rock club (not the music kind obviously :-))!
posted by bluefly at 3:44 PM on January 6, 2008

It looks like an iron meteorite.

Slice it or grind a part of it flat and etch the flat surface with strong acid, such as sulfuric or nitric acid. Widmanstätten patterns or Neumann lines may appear! Widmanstätten patterns are among my favorite of all phenomena.

For what it's worth, the surface looks characteristic of meteorites I've seen, with those shallow depressions. I am delighted to learn from popcassady's link that these depressions are called 'regmaglypts'.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:33 PM on January 6, 2008

Oh wow, it's a certified octahedrite. That means it's bound to have Widmanstätten patterns. I'm mildly envious. I may have to look into getting one of these myself.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:33 PM on January 6, 2008

As a geologist with only a picture to look at, I can say it does look like one. The size to weight ratio is a big clue. The most common meteorites are made of a nickel/iron matrix - very dense compared to normal rocks.
posted by Big_B at 11:20 AM on January 7, 2008

The most common meteorites are made of a nickel/iron matrix - very dense compared to normal rocks.

Whoops very wrong here. Chondrites are the most common, but the nickel/iron ones always tend to stick in my brain cause they are so much cooler looking.
posted by Big_B at 11:24 AM on January 7, 2008

I second all previous anwsers, just so I can add that I absolutely love love love "Steve, don't eat it!"! Could you find more bizarre things to eat, pretty please, thesneeze?
posted by lioness at 11:52 AM on January 7, 2008