Gibeon Meteorite — Complete Slice With Chromite Crystal

If the previous lot were subdivided — which should never be the case — its internal structural would closely resemble the current offering. This complete slice was cut from a more prosaic form whose splendor is hidden within. 

Gibeon meteorites formed 4.5 billion years ago in the molten core of a protoplanetary body in the asteroid belt. An impact event shattered this differentiated asteroid and bumped some fragments into an orbital path that was a collision course with Earth.

The cut surface of this complete slice provides a striking display of Gibeon’s crystalline structure. As an extended cooling curve of millions of years is required for the molecules of the two major iron-nickel alloys of iron meteorites — kamacite (which has a low nickel content) and taenite (which has a high nickel content) — to crystallize, and this pattern is diagnostic in the identification of a meteorite. As meteorites which originate from different parent bodies are comprised of varying compositions, different patterns indicate different asteroids of origin (see lots 13, 14, 16 and 18). Referred to as Widmanstätten Patterns, this gridwork is in honor of Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten who happened to first notice them in the early 19^th Century — except he didn’t. Researcher William Thompson noticed this same pattern years before the Count and wrote a scientific paper about the same while working in Italy, but the Napoleonic Wars and instability in southern Italy at the time made it extremely challenging to apprise his colleagues in England of his findings — which were published in English following Thompson’s death. As a result, there has been an effort to honor his work by referring to such patterns as Thompson structures.

Regardless of what they’re called, the resplendent pattern seen in the slice now offered evidences why Gibeon’s mesmerizing fine octahedral latticework makes it so sought after. The perimeter of this slice is delimited by the meteorite’s natural exterior surface; signature troilite inclusions and a rare chromite crystal are scattered throughout the matrix — chromium being the metal used to strengthen steel. Featuring a shimmering etch, this is a select complete slice of a renowned iron meteorite.