Meteorite hunting is a favorite hobby for some people. In the United States, the best place to find the elusive rocks is the southwest. Every meteorite hunter handles their finds differently. Some might opt to display the space stone as is. Others slice the meteorites into sections for display or selling.
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When meteorite hunters Emil Davidsson and Alexandra Levchenkova get a new stone, they often slice it into smaller pieces. The slices are soaked in an acid bath for about 20 minutes. The bath permits the natural pattern of the meteorite to be more visible. As the team behind Stardust Meteorite Jewelry, the pair wants people to have the opportunity to own a piece of the solar system.
Like a human fingerprint, the striation pattern of a meteorite cannot be duplicated. It takes billions of years to form a meteorite in the vacuum of space with no gravity. What begins life as molten metal cools slowly over millions of years. The slow cooling process creates natural, one-of-a-kind patterns called Widmanstätten patterns. The acid bath brings the patterns out, making them more visible.
Becoming A Meteorite Hunter
Stardust Meteorite Jewelry processes the cosmic stones to support their business. You can see more of their work and finished jewelry on their Instagram page. They are very knowledgeable about the space rocks and want to share them with the world. Stardust mines their stones globally and procures products from other meteorite hunters. They process stones in different ways depending on their needs.
There are plenty of public lands in the southwest where you can find meteorites. To become a meteorite hunter, you can research Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policies regarding collection. They allow the collection of meteorites without a permit for personal use. If you intend to use the meteorites commercially, you must obtain permits.
Meteorite hunting is a fascinating and adventurous hobby if you enjoy exploring and digging. You can get started with little equipment or invest in a good metal detector to aid your search. Happy hunting!
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