The meteorite that fell on Tagish Lake in Canada in January has finally been
analysed
(see 鈥淧rimeval dust鈥�).
This means you can now buy your very own fragments of the
space rock. But if you鈥檙e going to dabble in meteorite dealing, don鈥檛 get ripped
off. Get clued up online first.
Tagish Lake fragments start at $25 at the Meteorite Market
(www.alaska.net/~meteor/mmhome.htm), which claims to be the oldest meteorite
dealer on the Net. It also sells magnifying glasses, which will come in handy if
you want to view the 10-milligram fragment you get for your $25.
Space rocks in flashy display cases are available from New England
Meteoritical at www.meteorlab.com. But if you don鈥檛 want to buy one the site
offers tips on how to isolate micrometeorites from the dust on your roof.
Advertisement
A useful site for first-time buyers is The Meteorite Exchange at
www.meteorite.com, which carries an extensive list of online dealers. You鈥檒l
also find a Lost and Found section for reuniting stray meteorites with their
owners and the Meteorite Problem Database, which warns against the ever-present
dangers of rusting (meteorites contain a lot of iron), and Steve鈥檚 Meteorite
Information Page, which explains how to tell whether a rock is an
extraterrestrial.
If it is, you鈥檒l want to get onto The Meteoritical Society鈥檚 site,
www.uark.edu/campus-resources/metsoc/index1.htm, where you can find out how to
get your rock recognised and access an archive of meteorites and where they
fell. If your find passes the society鈥檚 stringent tests, it鈥檒l give it a name
based on where it fell.
Once your rock has a name, it could be worth real money. Dealers such as
Rob Elliot, an enthusiast turned entrepreneur based in Fife, Scotland, is
offering a reward of up to 拢20,000 for the next meteorite to fall in the
UK. He tells Netropolitan he鈥檚 got some great finds for sale. Check out his
website at http://fernlea.tripod.com/forsale.html.