The upper layer of the meteorite has a blackened shell a few millimeters thick, which has become this color due to partial burning in the earth’s atmosphere. Magee told Space.com that the research team, using a hand-held microscope that is used to look closely at rocks, found that the meteorite’s minerals are blue and gray in color with a small amount of other metals mixed in.
By placing the meteorite inside the large chamber of the scanning electron microscope, the researchers studied its texture and composition. According to preliminary estimates, the New Jersey meteorite is an LL-6 type chondrite, which has less iron than other members of its family and is at least 30-40% denser than the most common rocks on Earth, such as slate or granite. As a result, according to Maggie, it was clear that this stone is not earth.
According to the scientists, even before it penetrated the earth’s atmosphere, the space rock had undergone such a change in its structure and composition by being exposed to the intense heat of the outer space that it was difficult to recognize the individual particles or chondrules that make up the meteorite.
