[ad_1]
A Michigan man had a rare meteorite in his house, but he did not know it.
For 30 years, the 22-pound space rock was used as a door stop. But it is a meteorite valued at $ 100,000. The true identity of the rock was confirmed by a geology professor from Central Michigan University. Professor Mona Sirbescu has been responsible for examining various types of ordinary rock throughout her career. But it was the first time that a random rock was actually a meteorite.
"For 18 years, the answer has been categorically" no "- a wrong meteor, not a meteorite," said Sirbescu in a statement.
The odd big stone was brought to the institute by an unidentified Michigan man who kept it for 30 years.
"I could tell right away that it was something special," Sirbescu said. "It's the most valuable specimen I've ever had in my life, financially and scientifically."
The meteorite fell on Earth in the 1930s. A Michigan man got it in 1988, when he bought a farm in Edmore, about 30 miles southwest of Mount Pleasant. While visiting the property, the man inquired about this particular rock. The former owner of the farm had told him that it was a meteorite that he had seen falling with his father one night on their property in the 1930s.
For years, the Michigan man has used space rock as a door. It is only recently that he decided to examine his rock. The man learned that people in Michigan had found and sold the meteorites and had begun to wonder what was the value of his own rock.
When Dr. Sirbescu examined her under an X-ray fluorescence instrument, she discovered that the rock was an iron-nickel meteorite containing about 88% iron and 12% nickel, a metal rarely found on Earth. It was the sixth largest meteorite ever found in Michigan.
"Just think that what I was holding is a piece of the primitive solar system that literally fell into our hands." Said Sirbescu. The Smithsonian named the meteorite Edmore, a rock, and is considering buying the meteorite for later display.
Source link
