The cut face, with interesting ring inclusions and shiny metal blobs within the metal matrix.
Bonhams summarizes: “Ataxites are a rare type of iron-nickel meteorite that do not exhibit a Widmanstatten pattern when they are etched due to their high nickel content. Ataxites are known as ungrouped irons as they do not match the chemistry of any of the other iron-nickel groups and most certainly come from a different planetary body than the other irons. Dronino was discovered by a Russian mushroom hunter in July of 2000.”
And Christie’s: “Dronino is the only known sample of what was at one time a protoplanet in our solar system (an asteroid with a differentiated core, mantle and crust).
Iron meteorites are primarily composed of two different iron-nickel alloys, kamacite and taenite. In Dronino, the kamacite contains 7% nickel while rare grains of taenite contain 26%. The banded and elongated accents seen are sulfide inclusions. While there is no other meteorite that has the surface texture of Dronino, the same can be said for the features seen in a cut sample.”
Metbull for Dronino
Dimensions: 405 grams, 7cm X 5.5cm X 3cm
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