Admire is a member of the pallasite group of meteorites, widely considered to be the most beautiful otherworldly substance known. While meteorites are among the rarest substances on Earth — all the world’s meteorites weigh less than the world’s annual output of gold — pallasites are more rare still as they represent less than 0.2% of all known meteorites. Pallasites formed at the mantle-core boundary of an asteroid as chunks of stony olivine (a magnesium-rich silicate) settled atop the molten iron core and became suspended in the metallic matrix. Also present in this specimen is gem-quality olivine or peridot (birthstone of August). Admire pallasites are readily identified by large polycrystalline areas that cleaved into highly angular shards during an energetic collision on its parent asteroid. Originating from the asteroid belt, with a few bumps along the way, the first Admire meteorites were ploughed up by a farmer in Lyon County, Kansas in 1881.
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