"Shangri-La Meteorite" exhibited in Chengdu?
Recently, local TV media in Chengdu, Sichuan reported that a "mysterious meteorite" attracted a lot of attention at a meteorite exhibition. Li Bo, president of the Meteorite Professional Committee of Sichuan Antique Collection Association, said that this black meteorite was the "fireball" that fell near Shangri-La this Mid-Autumn Festival.
The reporter saw from the video that this black "meteorite" was in the shape of a hill cone, with traces similar to the condensation of rock mass after high temperature liquefaction.
Li Bo told the media: "This is the legendary Shangri-La meteorite from Yunnan, which is very fresh and classic. Here is the landing site. It is very typical that such an influence is solidified like this. " Li Bo also said that the meteorite in Shangri-La has been fired to 200,000 yuan a gram.
At the same time, it is mentioned in the video that a test engineer is holding a machine to test, and the results show that the main element is iron, including other trace elements.
After the video was broadcast, it also caused a lot of controversy. Some people even think that it is "not a meteorite at all" but "slag".
Meteorite or slag?
654381October 4, after the fireball fell to the ground, Li Bo went to Shangri-La "idolize" together with other members of the Meteorite Professional Committee of Sichuan Antique Collection Association. "After we arrived at the first time, we talked with local witnesses and recorded videos, but it was very dangerous to watch the road later. We will return after six days of inspection. "
But Li Bo didn't want to give up. He gave some equipment carried by his team to the local aborigines, and asked them to continue to help with the search. Finally, Li Bo waited for the "good news" he had expected.
Li Bo told the reporter that this "meteorite" was discovered by the president of a branch of the Sichuan Meteorological Society around165438+1October 8, and was sent to Chengdu for further testing on 13. "After sending us a few meteorites, we screened them and thought that this one is more in line with the characteristics of Shangri-La meteorites: including the landing point, whether it is in the Shangri-La falling area, and the melting characteristics of appearance burning."
Some people on the Internet questioned that this "meteorite" was actually just a "slag", but Li Bo denied it. "Meteorites will bring us many unknowns, and it is understandable that everyone has different views. Arguing is not a bad thing. As a folk enthusiast, we can only say that from our perspective and our level of knowledge, this piece is largely a Shangri-La meteorite. "
Li Bo told reporters that the exhibition also communicated with the organizing committee. "Because meteorites are more professional, the organizing committee set up a meteorite area. The meteorites we exhibited are actually popular science. Learning the unknown, we don't take an inherent knowledge to set it. I definitely won't set it. The teacher didn't teach us what meteorites are like. We have a popular science attitude. "
Different voices question the authenticity of meteorites.
Yesterday, the reporter contacted Jiang Wei, executive deputy director of Meteorite Scientific Investigation Committee of China Scientific Exploration Association. Jiang Wei said that the "meteorite" exhibited by Li Bo must not come from Shangri-La. Jiang Wei believes that this "meteorite" may be slag or volcanic lava. "From its appearance characteristics, including the melting state of the surface, air marks, shape characteristics, etc. It does not meet the characteristics of meteorites at all. "
And how to really detect whether a stone is a meteorite, Jiang Wei introduced that slice analysis, electron probe and isotope analysis are needed. "The process is very complicated, and testing with machines is not reliable." Jiang Wei said that elements are a standard for meteorite identification. In addition, Jiang Wei thinks it is more important to analyze the rock image. "The structure is different from the rocks of the earth, and the environment in which the molecular structure is formed is also different, not just an element."
The price of 200,000 yuan a gram is too exaggerated for Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei said that many meteorites are only a few yuan and dozens of yuan a gram.
After the "fireball incident", Jiang Wei also went to Shangri-La to participate in this "treasure hunt" activity, but later, due to natural reasons such as difficulty and local snow, Jiang Wei left early. But in Jiang Wei's understanding, the meteorite that fell to the ground in Shangri-La has not really been discovered.
Another member of Sichuan Meteorological Association told reporters that he thought the "Shangri-La Meteorite" on display was more like a handicraft. "The domestic meteorite industry is very complicated. Meteorites in scientific theory need to meet flight dynamics and other conditions, and masterpieces in nature are rarely completely symmetrical. "
In addition, Zhang Baolin, a domestic meteorite expert and an expert at the Beijing Planetarium, said in an interview with the Yunnan media, "That is not a real meteorite, and there is no characteristic of a meteorite." Zhang Baolin said that when a meteorite passes through the atmosphere, the temperature of friction and combustion with the atmosphere will suddenly rise, and then it will quickly cool down. Judging from the picture of this "meteorite" in Chengdu, it seems that the lava flowed for a long time after melting, but it did not cool down quickly. It is speculated that it may be volcanic lava or slag.