Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Here are a couple more from my meteorite collection. They are all nickel-iron, as opposed to the chondrite I posted a few days ago.

The Campo del Cielo ("field of the sky"?) must have been a huge beastie when it first came in, and exploded high up. There are *thousands* of fragments of it available. It fell in Argentina, some 10,000 years ago - and no, I have no idea how they know when it was!

My first meteorite was a larger fragment of this same meteorite, which I posted a few weeks back. This particular fragment I won in a competition run by Astronomy magazine. Unlike the larger pieces, you can see that this one actually melted as it came through the atmosphere. Well, travelling at about 20 times the speed of a rifle bullet, you would, wouldn't you?

I like to take these to work to show the kids (I drive a school bus). How often do you get to see and hold something which is older than the planet Earth itself? I first hit them up with the dinosaur teeth, being "really old", then bring one of these along, to show them what *old* really means! Dinosaur tooth, somewhere between 65 and 200 million years. Meteorite, around 4,500 million years!

Nickel-iron meteorite, fell in Nantan, China, natural light

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Nantan meteorite, stacked

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Nantan meteorite, different view, natural light

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Nantan meteorite, second view, stacked

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Campo del Cielo meteorite, from Argentina, natural light

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Campo del Cielo meteorite, from Argentina, stacked

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Campo del Cielo meteorite, second view, natural light

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Campo del Cielo meteorite, second view, stacked

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Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

More super specimens from your collection, Phil, and a great job you've done photographing them.

DOOK Loc: Maclean, Australia

Excellent work, Phil. :thumbup: :thumbup:

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Bloke... excellent technical work. And in your field of interest, technical is where it is at. Kudos

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

Phil, I have enjoyed your photos of your collection and now I have another connection. When I retired from Big Blue in 2001 I started driving a school bus because I had a bus driver like yourself when I was growing up. I figured I could help educate these pupils during the bus rides I would take them on. It worked and I get to see a lot of my older students around town and the thanks I get for just talking to them and listening to their problems or beliefs confirms I did good.

Thanks for your posts, always look forward to them. By the way, don't the age the meteor strikes by the surrounding earth they can date? Greg

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I guess it has to be something like that, but I am not sure how it works for 'intermediate' ages. I know they can date fossils by their position in respect to layers of volcanic ash, stuff like that. I just don't know how it would work for dates of thousands of years, rather than millions.

I do see a couple of my ex-students around town, and it is nice when they remember and say hello. I just always felt that I should be part of the schooling 'process', and not just part of getting them to school and home again. Over the years I have had a whole bunch who get really interested in my 'stuff'. Who knows, just maybe I have planted a spark which will lead to them taking a different direction in life.

I used to play the classical music station on the radio (before we were banned from playing the radio when we have students on the bus!), on the grounds that, when they get older and decide that they hate it - and most probably will - at least they have *heard* it first! I don't care if they never become a fan, but I hate to see them make that kind of decision without ever being exposed to it... I did have some who would ask for it, if I forgot to put it on. Of course, this only worked with the elementary students - by the time they were in high school, it was country music or listen to the gripes!

Thanks for looking! I appreciate everyone's comments!