Is this a star before it hit the ground on Earth?

[MeteoriteChina]

TL;DR Summary

is this a star before it hit the ground on earth?

hi guys,

I have a rock, I think its a complete star or maybe core meteorite, what do you think about it?

It was found a few months ago in mountains in Shandong Province in China.

desc:
composition：Nickel iron
diameter: 4cm
weight:264g

Regards

Leonard

 

[Nik_2213]

Sure looks 'meteoritic' ! Snag is a lot of launch debris falls out of your sky...

May I suggest trying with a magnet ?

Also, it may be a genuine bolide AKA 'Shooting Star', but it is certainly not an actual star: Due care, please ??

 

[davenn]

Hi Leonard
welcome to PF

Summary:: is this a star before it hit the ground on earth?

I have a rock, I think its a complete star or maybe core meteorite, what do you think about it?

As @Nik_2213 said, not an actual star

Do you realize how big stars like our Sun are ? it's 1000's of times bigger than the Earth and there's
stars 1000's of times bigger than our sun.

I have been collecting meteorites for many years
Yes, it does look like a meteorite ... Tho it is possible that it is an iron concretion and hence
why it's very round.
Why the shiny part? has some one removed some of the outer layer ?
Tho it is very rare to find nicely rounded ones like that. nickel-iron ones ( and most others) tend to have
more varied shapes after their flight through the atmosphere

Assuming it is a meteorite, then that outer dark coating would possibly be a fusion crust

desc:
composition：Nickel iron

Where did this description come from ?

Are you in China ?
Did you buy this ?
If so, did it come from a reputable dealer ?
Is it magnetic … a magnet sticks to it ?

Are you able to take another pic of it in natural light please ? ... without the use of a flash
so that there are not reflections from it and slightly better focussed

I have several Chinese meteorites in my collection and many from all around the world

just a small sample of my meteorites can be seen here …...

http://www.sydneystormcity.com/meteorites.htm ... including a couple of the Chinese ones


cheers
Dave

 

[Vanadium 50]

Do you realize how big stars like our Sun are ? it's 1000's of times bigger than the Earth and there's
stars 1000's of times bigger than our sun.

Did you know that all but about 47 of the stars visible to the naked eye are bigger than the sun?

 

[davenn]

Did you know that all but about 47 of the stars visible to the naked eye are bigger than the sun?

yeah, our Sol is but a baby in the big scheme of things

 

[lomidrevo]

Did you know that all but about 47 of the stars visible to the naked eye are bigger than the sun?

Hmm, I don't think this is correct.
I downloaded Yale Bright Star Catalog, and filtered for stars with magnitude 6 or less (under excellent conditions, 6.5 could be taken as the limiting value for naked eye observation, but let's be more strict). At least 2756 stars are reported with "higher" spectral type (O, B, A, F, G0, G1) comparing to the Sun's spectral type G2V.

Of course, the real number of stars bigger than the Sun that could be observed depends on location and the current conditions. In cities and suburbs, the number can be even lower than 47.

[Edit]: @Vanadium 50, I am sorry, my bad English. You probably mean, that only about 47 stars of all those visible stars are smaller then Sun. I understood it wrong at my first reading.
Additional question could be, based on what parameter we define "bigger"? Mass or radius? The answer would depend a lot on this choice

 

[MeteoriteChina]

hi davenn ,

Its found in deep mountains in Shandong Province by local a few months ago.

yes it can be attracted by magnet.

please check pics attached.

thx

 

[Vanadium 50]

Its found in deep mountains

If you found it underground, why do you think it fell from the sky?

based on what parameter we define "bigger"

Technically, I used luminosity. But most of these are K's, so you get pretty much the same answer with luminosity, mass or radius.

 

[MeteoriteChina]

got it, thanks guys.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Got what?

Again, if you found it underground, why do you think it fell from the sky?

 

[Mark44]

Again, if you found it underground, why do you think it fell from the sky?

I don't think that he meant that he found it underground. His phrase "found in deep mountains" very likely means "way off in the mountains" or the equivalent.

 

[davenn]

I don't think that he meant that he found it underground. His phrase "found in deep mountains" very likely means "way off in the mountains" or the equivalent.

yeah, exactly ... in a mountainous region of the country

I'm still hanging with my, quite possibly a meteorite, but so rare to find near perfect spheroid ones
one possibility I found was this one ...

listed as ~ 5.5cm diameter and 150gm

http://www.shaligram.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=111_112&product_id=1210

but looking in the Meteoritical Bulletin, there is no listing for a find there

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php

So I'm not really sure the sale listing is genuine ?

 

[DaveC426913]

I'm still hanging with my, quite possibly a meteorite, but so rare to find near perfect spheroid ones
one possibility I found was this one ...

View attachment 253774

listed as ~ 5.5cm diameter and 150gm

Hrm. That works out to a density of only 1.8g/cm³. Not even twice the density of water.
Stony meteorites should have a density of 3-4g/cm³

 

[Mark44]

That works out to a density of only 1.8g/cm3.

I get about 2.3 g/cm³ based on the diameter and mass that davenn posted. Some carbonaceous meteorites can have densities of between 1.79 to 2.4 g/cm³, according to the table here - http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/density.htm.

 

[stefan r]

Could it be steel shot? 40 mm is a bit excessive but I have seen a 50mm pistol in the museum of a medieval castle. The tour guide said it was fired once in combat and the target was able to duck. Grapeshot could be 40mm. Hauling artillery is hard in the mountains. A 40mm would be better than not having any artillery.