The Fall at Thuringia in 1581: An artist’s depiction of a meteorite fall that occurred near Thuringia, Germany, during the afternoon of July 26, 1581. A loud explosion that seemed to shake the Earth and a bright flash were observed throughout the area. Then a 39-pound rock fell from the sky, burying itself into the soil…

Tektite pendant: This pendant is a wire cage that encloses a tektite from the Indochina strewn field. Wire wrapping is a popular way to display tektites, meteorites, desert glass, and moldavites. This specimen is about 30 millimeters in height and makes a nice pendant. Smaller specimens are wrapped with finer gauge wire and used as earrings.…

Tektite: An excellent example of an Indochinite tektite from Southeast Asia. Tektites are fragments of ejecta produced when a large extraterrestrial object strikes the Earth. The heat of the impact flash melts rock in the impact area and ejects it in the molten state. These molten masses solidify into a natural glass, a mineraloid, in flight and fall…

Faceted tektite: Some people use fragments of tektites to produce faceted stones. They are usually opaque to slightly translucent and have a pitch black color. They have an elegant appearance similar to jet and are enjoyed by many people. Because of their glassy composition, they have a hardness that is less than optimal for use in…

Diamonds from Space: In the 1980s, researchers discovered that some meteorites are loaded with tiny nanometer-sized diamonds. In fact, about three percent of all carbon found in meteorites is in the form of nanodiamonds. Image by NASA.

Asteroid Impact Diamonds: Large asteroids can hit the earth at a velocity of 15 to 20 miles per second. This produces an impact that is powerful enough to vaporize rock, excavate a huge crater, and blast millions of tons of ejecta into the air. The force at the point of impact exceeds the temperature and pressure…

Polished meteorite: Cutting and polishing an iron meteorite usually reveals a fantastic pattern of metal crystals inside. Known as a “Widmanstatten pattern,” these crystal shapes are natural art that many people appreciate. Cut and polished meteorites are used to make cabochons, pendants, beads, watch faces, rings, and many other items. The piece in the photo above is a guitar pick.…

King Tutankhamun’s Desert Glass: Over 3300 years ago, the ancient Egyptians knew about Libyan Desert Glass and held it in high regard. The pendant shown above was one of several buried with King Tutankhamun (King Tut), an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who ruled between 1332 and 1323 BC. The yellow center stone is a…

People have been fascinated with extraterrestrial gems for over 100 years. They are rare materials with a novelty origin, and many people want them. Moldavite was being made into novelty gems as early as the late 1800s, and they were popular throughout Europe and popular with tourists. The demand for moldavite jewelry exceeded the amount of natural…