The extraordinarily beautiful Fukan meteorite

The Fukang meteorite, which scientists believe is 4.5 billion years old, was found near the city of the same name in China in 2000. This is pallasite – a type of meteorite with transparent golden crystals of a mineral called olivine, which are fused in silvery "honeycombs" of nickel and iron. The meteorite is magnificent. It's probably the most beautiful alien piece of stone we've ever seen.

1. The Fukan meteorite was found by a tourist. This man often stopped and dined on this huge stone. He always wondered what kind of huge stone with metal and crystals it was.

2. Finally, he took an axe and a chisel and chipped off some pieces, which he sent to the USA to confirm that it was indeed a meteorite.

3. The original meteorite weighed more than a thousand kilograms, but the stone was so beautiful that everyone wanted to take a piece for themselves. So the meteorite was disassembled into small pieces, which were sold at auctions or simply dispersed around the world.

4. Only 31 kg of this species is located at the University of Arizona. Marvin Kilgore from the same university has the largest piece weighing 420 kg.

5. In 2008, this piece could have gone under the hammer for $ 2 million at an auction in New York, but, unfortunately for the owner, that day buyers were more interested in a piece of fossilized dinosaur droppings 130 million years old.

6. Pallasites consist of about 50% olivine and peridot crystals and 50% nickel-iron. It is believed that these are the remnants of the planets being formed.

7. Obviously, they make up less than 1% of the meteorite.

8. It is believed that they originated from deep and untouched meteors during the formation of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. And few people were able to survive overcoming the earth's atmosphere.