Seymchan pallasite on metal base

Found in : Seymchan, Russia. But from space! Pallasites are a rare type of stony/iron meteorite and are widely considered to be the most beautiful otherworldly substance known. Extraterrestrial olivine and peridot are suspended in the highly-polished iron-nickel matrix originating from an asteroid’s core. This complete slice of a Seymchan meteorite is delimited by the meteorite’s external surface. The combination of part iron and part iron with olivine crystals in this specimen are a superior example of a transitional pallasite. Modern cutting. Classified as a pallasite, it is composed of dark crystals of the silicate mineral olivine in a spongelike network of nickel-iron alloy. Meteorites are pieces of stone or iron that fell to Earth from outer space. They are often small chunks of planetoids, but sometimes can be pieces up to kilometres in diameter. Like the planets, the planetoids orbit around our Sun. While meteorites are among the rarest substances on Earth — all the world’s meteorites weigh less than the world’s annual output of gold — pallasites are rarer still as they represent less than 0.2% of all known meteorites. Pallasites formed at the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid when some of the mantle’s olivine, which is in proximity to the molten metallic core, crystallized. As a result of the asteroid having been shattered following a collision with another asteroid, inner sections of this asteroid became liberated with a bit of it having found its way to Earth. Gem-quality olivine or peridot (the August birthstone) is found in some pallasites — including the current offering. About Meteorites in general: A typical meteorite hits the surface of the Earth at a rate of approximately 100 metres per second (about 350 km per hour). Obviously even a small meteorite at such a speed may cause great damage. Depending on its size and where the meteorite falls, it might cause an impact crater with a depth of between a few centimetres and up to many meters deep.