Gemstones are part of our daily life because they are always part of us, be it on the neck, wrist, fingers or shoes. They just happen to spice up the look and boost one’s confidence. When people try to give their opinions on how these gemstones are formed, they are generally of the opinion that gemstones are found from planet earth, this may not be the case for all gemstones.
Gemstones have their origins in planet Earth, and outside planet Earth. There are some space gemstones also known as extraterrestrial gemstones that have their origins traced to outer space. These gemstones happen to be found on planet Earth because they fell from outer space.
This might sound like a myth, but have you ever heard of a meteoroid? There are some meteoroids that are actually gemstones. A number of meteoroids are attractive and small enough to be used as gemstones just the way they fell from the sky. Iron meteoroids can be resized and polished to form the metal parts of jewelry. Pallasites are colorful crystalline meteoroids that can be cut to form gemstones. These gems that get their origin from outside Earth are called space gems. Here are some examples of space gems.
Moldavite
Olive green in color, this gemstone was formed when an asteroid hit the earth 15 million years back. The heat and velocity at which it hit the earth made it spread all through Austria, Czech Republic, and Germany. This moldavite is sold often as jewelry.
The moldavite is brittle in nature which makes it fragile so it is often used as earring and bracelets. You just might be carrying material from outer space on your neck without knowing it.
Libyan desert glass
This gemstone is particularly found in the Libyan desert, dating to over 26 million years back, this gemstone has several varying theories as to its origin. The most accepted and popular theory is that a meteorite was responsible for the flash melting material on the desert that in turn created the glass. This is likened to the process of glass production from melting sand in the glass production process.
Space Peridot
Called ‘sun gem’ by the Egyptians who were the first to find deposits on the Red Sea Island. Space peridot is a rare crystalline outer space gemstone. After the discovery of this gemstone by the Egyptians, it was later found in other places like Pakistan and the United States where most of the best space peridot were found. A huge deposit was later found in Argentina and was bought by an American collector. Researchers used spectrometry and special laser beams to check for the content of vanadium, manganese, Cobalt, nickel, lithium, and zinc. By doing this the researchers and purchasers get to know more about the gemstones origin.
Asteroid Diamonds in Russia
The process of the formation of diamond is that of extreme pressure and heat within the earth core; this same process can also happen on the surface of the earth.Such extreme heat and pressure on the earth surface can only be traced to the impact of an Asteroid on the earths surface. The Popigai Crate in Russia has in it the largest deposit of diamond in the world; this deposit was formed as a result of the impact of Asteroid on that part of Russia. This diamond does not possess the complete features of a gem, but they are still sought-after because of their industrial use.
Black diamond
The rareness of black diamond should have passed a message already. Black diamonds formulation process differs from the formulation process of other diamonds like the white diamond and the green diamond. After several years of trying to find out the source of black diamonds, scientist have confirmed after careful study that black diamonds origin are traced to outer space,
Black diamonds are only found in a few places in the world, which are Brazil and Africa. It is believed that they fell down to the earth with meteoroids were distributed to specific areas.
Diamonds in Jupiter
It is believed that there are huge deposits of diamond in Jupiter. The atmosphere in Jupiter combined with high pressure can form diamonds. The carbon in the atmosphere fuse together to form graphite and at an increased pressure they fall and form diamonds that are up to 1cm in diameter.
Opals in Mars
The Mars Rover in July 2015 discovered deposits of opal in Mars. Opals are gemstones that are also found in our environment and are highly sought-after. They date back to antiquity.
Meteorites
Meteorites that are small and nicely shaped are used to make pendants and earrings. The might wire-wrap, attach an eyelet, drill them or pass a cord through a natural hole that is already in the meteoroid. The Campo del Cielo makes an interesting pendant. Most people do this without knowing that the origin of the gemstone is from outer space. We all know meteoroids are not formed here on Earth.
Tektite
Tektite is a piece of ejecta formed when a large extraterrestrial object hits the earth. This hit or strike causes rocks to melt around the area of the strike changing it into its molten state. The molten later solidifies to form a natural glass. The impact that forms the tektites of Indochina strewn field happened about 800,000 years back.
Faceted tektite
Tektite is used to make faceted stones; they are slightly translucent and opaque with a pitch black color. With an elegant look, they are highly sought-after. The hardness of the faceted tektite is not up to the quality of using it to make a ring, so people often use them for pendant, pins, and earrings.
The Pallasite Meteorite Slice
A Pallasite Meteorite fell near Chubut, Argentina and was found by a farmer. This Pallasite Meteorite was weighed, and it weighed 1500 pounds. It is a yellowish green crystal which is partly gem-quality peridot and non-gem quality. This composition tells that the Pallasite Meteorite was a part of other large bodies of the solar system that had a metallic core and also a rocky mantle. The Pallasite component of the Pallasite Meteorite comes from the portion of the body that it the core-mantle.
Polished Meteorite
Meteorites are the majorly discussed space gemstones in this article because it brings out more sense of proof since we all know that meteoroids are attributed to outer space and not earth. People cut and polish iron meteorites in order to show a fantastic pattern of metal and crystal that is inside. This pattern of the metal crystal is known as Widmanstatten pattern”. When meteorites are out and polished, it can serve as pendants, watch faces, beads, and rings.
There are five major space gemstones that are popularly sought-after, the black diamond, tektite, peridot, moldavite, and the meteoroid.
The force on meteorites in its formation process as it travels from space and enters earth causes fracture on the olivine crystals. This fracture makes it difficult to find a large piece of extraterrestrial that are large enough to facet
Wonderful list. Very informative ?