CATCH A FALLING STAR
AND PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET
You may have heard the old song with the verse "catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day." Never has that phrase become more applicable than today. Through the examination of meteorite, N.A.S.A. scientists have recently discovered the possibility of life on Mars. Since then, the practice of collecting meteorites has exploded across the country. The Zagami meteorite which fell in Uganda in 1962 has been proven to be a part of the red planet. Scientists believe that ages ago the meteorite was blown apart from Mars after a collision with an asteroid. Samples are being sold for $5000.00 per gram. Yes, I said $5000. One- tenth of carat flakes are selling for $50.00. I've got mine, do you have yours? Other meteorites sell for ten to twenty dollars a gram and up. Remember there are a little over 450 grams in a pound. Museums and universities, as well as private collectors, have been cashing in on the craze and selling small samples of their collections of meteorites.
Meteors and meteorites are true pieces of our past - our most distant past. The origin of most meteorites go back to the beginning of our solar system, four and one half billion years ago. Many come from asteroids and comets, as well as some planetary sources. There are three basic types. The iron or octahedrite -hexahedrite -ataxite is the most common. An eight hundred pound iron meteorite fell in Sardis, Ga. in 1940. That meteorite is in the U.S. National Museum. Other meteorites which fell in our area were the Pitts Meteorite which fell in Wilcox Co. in 1921, the Twin City Meteorite in 1955, and the Pulaski Meteorite which fell in Pulaski Co. in 1955. Another type of meteorite is the stony or aerolite. Some meteorites, which are a combination of both, are known as siderites. Over the years about three dozen confirmed meteorite finds have been documented in Georgia. It is likely that over the last several million years there has been at least one to strike our area.
Meteor showers occur about eighteen times a year. In Laurens County, November 16, 1833 was long known as "the time the stars fell." Meteors filled the sky for hours. Superstitious citizens knew "Judgment Day" had come. Scientists are predicting a similar "Leonid" shower in the next three years. Other major showers are seen on August 12-13, October 20-23, and December 13-14.
Southwestern Laurens County is located on the northwestern edge of the center of one of the more unique places on the Earth. The area lying between Houston, Washington, Treutlen, and Telfair counties is one of ten areas in the world where tektites are commonly found. Tektites, or Georgiaites, are small green-black meteorites. Most of the twelve hundred tektites found in Georgia are concentrated near the Dodge, Bleckley, and Laurens County lines. Through 1996, thirty have been creported found in Laurens County. In 1968, Sylvester and Edward Gainey of Chester, found a two ounce specimen in western Laurens County. At the time, it was the largest ever found in Georgia.
Ninety two percent of the five hundred or so of all tektites ever found in central Georgia have been found in an egg shaped pattern centered around Empire, Georgia. The major concentration is bounded by Eastman and Jay Bird Springs on the southeast, Roddy and Empire on the southwest, and Plainfield, Dexter, and Chester on the northwest. Scientists have been dated them to be as old as thirty-three million years. In all probability, there are more tektites located in the south
western portion of Laurens County, south of Dexter.
Tektites have been found along the Atlantic Coast from Cuba to Martha's Vineyard. Others have been found in Czechoslovakia, the Ivory Coast, Australia, and China. Their origin remains a mystery to scientists. Some scientists believe that they are of lunar origin. Others believe that they are cooled specimens of volcanic material. Some theorize that when the tektites fell, this area was a part of the
Atlantic Ocean. Other classify them as a fourth type of meteorite.
Before you go out to hunt meteorites or tektites, how do you know what you are looking for? Meteorites are all dark in color. Recent ones have a fusion crust on the exterior. Iron meteorites show a bright metal on the inside. It has a high specific gravity and will weigh more than a earth rock of the same size. Most contain nickel and are magnetic, even the stony ones. Stony meteorites contain some metal and have veins running through them. Reputable testing sources can be found all over the country.
Tektites look like smoked glass and resemble another natural glass, obsidian. They have a greenish-black color and are often confused with burned man-made glass. They come various shapes such as dumbbells, teardrops, bars, and disks. With a bright sun at your back they stand out in the lightly colored soils of our area. The many iron pebbles in this area's soil are thought to be unrelated to the tektite, although a similar pebble is found around the Henbury Meteorite Crater area. They are very rare. It has been estimated that one has to walk one hundred sixty five miles before finding a Georgiaite. One of the benefits of hunting tektites is that you will average about one Indian artifact for each hour of tektite hunting. Georgiaites are particularly rare as tektites go. Some whole samples sell in the thousands of dollars.
If you find a falling star or tektite, put it in your pocket, but seriously think about letting a local museum save it for a rainy day for all of us to see. One perk of looking for tektites is that you will likely find a nice Indian point.
AND PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET
Meteors and meteorites are true pieces of our past - our most distant past. The origin of most meteorites go back to the beginning of our solar system, four and one half billion years ago. Many come from asteroids and comets, as well as some planetary sources. There are three basic types. The iron or octahedrite -hexahedrite -ataxite is the most common. An eight hundred pound iron meteorite fell in Sardis, Ga. in 1940. That meteorite is in the U.S. National Museum. Other meteorites which fell in our area were the Pitts Meteorite which fell in Wilcox Co. in 1921, the Twin City Meteorite in 1955, and the Pulaski Meteorite which fell in Pulaski Co. in 1955. Another type of meteorite is the stony or aerolite. Some meteorites, which are a combination of both, are known as siderites. Over the years about three dozen confirmed meteorite finds have been documented in Georgia. It is likely that over the last several million years there has been at least one to strike our area.
Meteor showers occur about eighteen times a year. In Laurens County, November 16, 1833 was long known as "the time the stars fell." Meteors filled the sky for hours. Superstitious citizens knew "Judgment Day" had come. Scientists are predicting a similar "Leonid" shower in the next three years. Other major showers are seen on August 12-13, October 20-23, and December 13-14.
Ninety two percent of the five hundred or so of all tektites ever found in central Georgia have been found in an egg shaped pattern centered around Empire, Georgia. The major concentration is bounded by Eastman and Jay Bird Springs on the southeast, Roddy and Empire on the southwest, and Plainfield, Dexter, and Chester on the northwest. Scientists have been dated them to be as old as thirty-three million years. In all probability, there are more tektites located in the south
western portion of Laurens County, south of Dexter.
Atlantic Ocean. Other classify them as a fourth type of meteorite.
Before you go out to hunt meteorites or tektites, how do you know what you are looking for? Meteorites are all dark in color. Recent ones have a fusion crust on the exterior. Iron meteorites show a bright metal on the inside. It has a high specific gravity and will weigh more than a earth rock of the same size. Most contain nickel and are magnetic, even the stony ones. Stony meteorites contain some metal and have veins running through them. Reputable testing sources can be found all over the country.
Tektites look like smoked glass and resemble another natural glass, obsidian. They have a greenish-black color and are often confused with burned man-made glass. They come various shapes such as dumbbells, teardrops, bars, and disks. With a bright sun at your back they stand out in the lightly colored soils of our area. The many iron pebbles in this area's soil are thought to be unrelated to the tektite, although a similar pebble is found around the Henbury Meteorite Crater area. They are very rare. It has been estimated that one has to walk one hundred sixty five miles before finding a Georgiaite. One of the benefits of hunting tektites is that you will average about one Indian artifact for each hour of tektite hunting. Georgiaites are particularly rare as tektites go. Some whole samples sell in the thousands of dollars.
If you find a falling star or tektite, put it in your pocket, but seriously think about letting a local museum save it for a rainy day for all of us to see. One perk of looking for tektites is that you will likely find a nice Indian point.
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