Osbornite, meteoritic titanium nitride

Abstract

Nevil Story-Maskelyne described in 1870 the mineral constituents of the Bustee meteorite, which was observed to fall in 1852 near Bustee about 45 miles west of Goruckpur, India. The stone, weighing 1429 grams, now preserved in the British Museum collections, was found to consist chiefly of enstatite and diopside, and two constituents proved to be new minerals. Pale, chestnut-brown spherules of calcium sulphide, CaS, Story-Maskelyne named oldhamite and golden-yellow octahedra found embedded chiefly in the oldhamite he named osbornite. One side of the meteorite has been ground to reveal the nodules of oldhamite and a coloured lithograph in W. Flight's book ‘A chapter in the history of meteorites’ reproduces the appearance of the chief mineral constituents very well. The minute octahedra of osbornite are easily visible with a lens in the meteorite itself.