I almost posted this in the "planets are big" thread, but meh...its not really the same thing. Merge as necessary of course, though.

Anyway, to the point. I have had a inkling for quite some time now that I would like to own a moon rock, meteorite, or something of the sort. Since I got a slightly bigger tax return than I had anticipated this year, I decided that, rather than being a selfish asshole and frittering the money away on "savings" or whatever, I would do my part to stimulate the economy. So...behold!


Not only a moon rock, but a MARS rock as well. Pretty fucking sweet.



Same meteorite, its just sliced on one side so you can see the inside of it. Also frigging awesome.

They should arrive sometime next week, I hope. I can't wait. Because if you don't think that holding a piece of Mars in your hand (however small) is awesome, you suck

GPFontaine wrote:

How much do those things cost and where would you get them?

The moon/mars set I bought off a friend. (There are so many fakes out there, I wouldn't buy something like that from any source you aren't sure of. Its hard to authenticate non-terrestrial rocks like those.)

Meteorites, though, are a bit easier, and not too expensive. The one I bought there is not big at all, maybe half a pound, and I got it for about fifty bucks. There's a guy on ebay who I know by reputation is quite reputable. He does "buy it now" auctions only, so you don't have to mess around with bidding. They are a bit on the expensive side, but also very high quality. (And, if you don't like your meteorite being cut in half, you can buy whole ones too; they're a bit cheaper.)

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritemadness

Don't be panicked by the multi-hundred/thousand dollar ones he has for sale; those are huge. If you browse you'll come across decent sized ones for a reasonable price.

Of course, the other way to get these is to find them on your own, but I've had no luck with that. Unless you live in some kind of desert (hot or cold) its too easy to have them get mixed in with regular rocks.

Lottel wrote:

... I own a whole star. Part of Draco. That's better than a rock. Though I can't hold my star in my hand. :/

I think I vaguely remember hearing about how you can do that...refresh my memory? That might be a cool investment too, if its not too expensive...

Lottel wrote:

Star Registry. Or something like that. $40 I believe? Or more based on brightness or popularity of star... I think. I have no clue. It was a gift.

Badass. I must check it out.