Aletai meteorite Iron meteorite - 36.9 g - (1)

For sale is a 6.7 cm slice of the well-known Aletai iron meteorite, classified as an anomalous iron meteorite of group IIIE (IIIE-an). The specimen weighs 36.9 grams and features an excellently prepared cut surface.

The Aletai meteorite is one of the world’s most spectacular iron meteorites. It was discovered in 1898 in the Altay Mountains of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Iron meteorites of this kind represent the molten metallic core of a differentiated planetesimal from the early days of our solar system, around 4.5 billion years ago.

The polished and etched surface displays a very pronounced, sharply defined Widmanstätten pattern. This unique crystal structure of kamacite and taenite forms exclusively in space through the extremely slow cooling of a liquid iron-nickel core over millions of years, and cannot be artificially reproduced on Earth.

A certificate of authenticity is included with the meteorite.