Meteorite MUONIONALUSTA
Meteorite showers, which fall toward the earth, occur daily. However, only some make it to the surface of our planet. Most of them disintegrate in the atmosphere. The discoveries of these meteorites are special in every occasion. By coincidence two boys discovered this special meteorite from outer space in Muonionalusta, Sweden.
The Muonionalusta meteorite is, a rather unstable, rust prone iron meteorite. It was originally discovered in 1906 near Kiruna, Sweden. This meteorite is classified as a fine (IVA) Octahedrite, and has beautiful etch patterns that resemble those of the Gibeon meteorite. On closer inspection the texture of the surface catches ones eye first. The very technical looking structure occurs by an extreme slow cooling down from 1 up to 100 degrees per million years - an unimaginable slow process.
The Widmanstätten patterns, (called also Thomson structures) named after the Austrian natural scientist Alois Widmanstätten (1754 -1849), are only visible when handled with nitric acid. These unique structures cannot be reproduced artificially and are therefore a clear identifying feature for meteorite iron.