Iron meteorite [SEP] material used
Iron meteorite
Iron meteorites are meteorites that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals.
The iron found in iron meteorites was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans, before the development of smelting that signaled the beginning of the Iron Age.
Occurrence.
Although they are fairly rare compared to the stony meteorites, comprising only about 5.7% of witnessed falls, iron meteorites
increases. This classification is called "structural classification".
Use.
Since nickel-iron crystals grow to lengths of some centimeters only when the solid metal cools down at an exceptionally slow rate (over several million years), the presence of these patterns is the proof of the extraterrestrial origin of the material and can be used to easily determine if a piece of iron comes from a meteorite.
Preparation.
The methods used to reveal the Widmanstätten pattern on iron meteorites vary. Most commonly, the slice is