Iron, fine octahedriteKiruna, Sweden (67°48’ N, 23°6’ E)

Muonionalusta is located in northern Sweden above the Arctic Circle near the Muonio River, for which the meteorite was named. While meteorite hunters have unearthed numerous masses in recent years, it was back in 1906 that children discovered the first Muonionalusta meteorite while engaging in a favorite childhood pastime: kicking rocks. While tending to his herd of cattle, a child unexpectedly struck a heavy object that was later verified to be an iron meteorite. Possessing what is among the highest terrestrial ages of any meteorite, Muonionalusta fell to Earth about one million years ago when the region was glaciated. Despite its age, many specimens exhibit only minor interior weathering due both to the stability of the material as well as to being kept in the freezer of the Arctic. Muonionalusta specimens are believed to be glacial erratics (material transported by a glacier), and their exposure to churning rocks and ice for tens of thousands of years could account for the smooth surface and prosaic shapes of most specimens. It is all about the splendor within; when sliced and etched, Muonionalusta displays the classic Widmanstätten pattern, the intergrowth of two iron-nickel minerals that form an unearthly metallic grid in shimmering shades of gray and silver.