#chondrule

NWA 2224 Meteorite Thin Section

Views of a “Chondritic Meteorite” in thin section. This is a meteorite that was polished to only about 0.03 millimeters thick, thin enough that light can travel through the rocks. It is then put on a polarizing microscope and polarized light is sent through it. That gives you a chance to see some of the minerals and textures, but there is a second step here. A geologists microscope will have a second polarizer above the sample. That second polarizer can be rotated so that only light that had its direction changed by passing through the mineral reaches the eye of the viewer. This produces an effect called Birefringence, the colors seen in these grains. Birefringence colors can be used along with mineral textures to identify rock types.

This video shows the upper polarizer being rotated, so the light goes from singly-polarized to doubly polarized and colors appear as they do it.

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NWA 960 Meteorite Thin Section

NWA 10214 Meteorite Thin Section

NWA 2364 Meteorite Surface - Side B