SEYMCHAN METEORITE — RESPLENDENT COARSE OCTAHEDRAL CRYSTALLINE PATTERN, Pallasite – PMG Magadan District, Siberia, Russia (62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)

This cut section of a Seymchan meteorite showcases its signature crystalline pattern in three dimensions — among the most robust and lustrous of any meteorite.
140 x 19 x 20 mm. (5½ x ¾ x ¾ in.) and 376.4 g. (¾ lbs)

Rendered as a “post” modern sculptural form.
Seymchan meteorites possess what is among the more resplendent coarse octahedral crystalline patterns of any meteorite. This exquisite natural design, referred to as a Widmanstätten pattern, is the result of the very slow intergrowth of two iron-nickel minerals (kamacite and taenite) — which in effect makes this extraterrestrial steel. Molten metal deep within the core of the asteroid crystallized as taenite during cooling. As temperatures dropped further, small kamacite crystals slowly began to grow within the taenite. Over millions of years, the Widmanstätten pattern formed from this intergrowth. Man-made steels cool much too quickly to form this pattern, which is diagnostic in the identification of iron meteorites. The amount of nickel determines the type of crystalline pattern that will form, and this singularly dazzling latticework is unique to meteorites that contain 6%-14% nickel. Seymchan is among the most rust-resistant of iron-rich meteorites — perhaps due in part to its moderately high concentration of iridium, the second densest element and the most corrosion-resistant metal known.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalog note.