The "Muonionalusta" meteorite stone used for our Nordsø Meteorite collection originates from the Nordic arctic tundra, specifically 140 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle between the Swedish-Finnish border.
The first fragments were discovered in 1906 near the Swedish village of Kitkiöjärvi by a group of playing children who stumbled upon what looked like an unusual stone. Since then, a total of 40 fragments have been found scattered in a 25-by-15-kilometer radius.
The Muonionalusta meteorite was part of a much larger meteor that broke up as it fell from the skies about 800,000-1,000,000 years ago. Before that, it is believed to have been a part of something even bigger: the iron core of a planet.
The Muonionalusta meteorite is known as the oldest meteorite discovered so far, dating back more than 4 billion years, essentially making it as old as the solar system itself.
The gorgeous fractal pattern found on the meteorite is known as the "Widmanstätten texture," which is formed by the meteorite's extremely slow cooling rate. The pattern is caused by the slow cooling of the metallic matrix within the meteorite as it travels through space.
This slow cooling causes the iron and nickel atoms in the metal to arrange themselves into a crystal structure, which is unique to each meteorite and can be used to identify different types of meteorites.
We love to think that every time you take a glance at the dial of the Nordsø Meteorite collection, it tells you more than the present time.
It offers a unique piece of history - a glimpse of the early cosmos, way before humans appeared on Earth, and a reminder of the wonders of the universe that we inhabit.
