🛸👽 Today’s #macromonday Shot Was Taken At The Munich Gem Shows, Where I Took A Closer Look At

🛸👽 Today’s #macromonday shot was taken at the Munich Gem Shows, where I took a closer look at this kickass Seymchan Nickel-Iron Meteorite sphere!

The macro shows a unique structure that can only form in meteoritic metal: Widmanstätten patterns, aka Thomson figures. This structure forms due to 2 alloys within the nickel-iron material, kamacite and taenite—as the meteor (often an asteroid fragment) is flying through space, it cools slowly, and the 2 alloys differentiate and form distinct crystals.

When the meteor impacts with earth (becoming a meteorite), it is cut and treated with acid. The acid etches the meteorite and reveals its interior lattice structure, and these fine patterns of crystallization we call Widmanstätten patterns. A super cool formation that teaches us more about meteorites and the universe around us!

🛸👽 #widmanstatten #thomsonfigures #meteorites #spacestuff #spacerocks #seymchan #meteors #macro #macrophotography #macroworld #minerals #rocks #munichgemshows #munich #phenomenalgems