HUBBLLE PHOTOS OF NEAT GALXIES/NEBULAE

I thought you were just being anthropomorphic. Did you have a pet rock back in the late 20th century when they were fashionable?

Alas Ff you've e made my day once more

I was a rockbound then, have scattered around our retirement property tens of thousands of common and beautiful specimens, many polished, most not. Wondered alas, what happens to 'em when I depart

But now my BH takes the best of 'em to her club where they're sold at church garage sales, be bought by bros who love nature

Heres on of my favorites. The "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula.

(Hint:To those who may be a bit metaphorically challenged as is our dear Foofster, It was named for a Ken Follet Book)

Report yesterday they sell like mad! Delighted since they have found welcome homes

you do your own polishing?
I made some nice cabachons from gemmy lepiidolite many years ago. Too much damned work for not getting paid to do it.

I bought a whole lapidary lab at a house sale in Albuquerque about 25 years ago. Ive since sold most of it but kept the bigass rock tumbler (It tumpbles rocks in 5 gallon cans that I can stack 2 cans end to end. The grits are the most expensive stuff

Indeed Man, back then I did. Most of the specimens sold at BH's club were polished slabs. Admittedly however spray polish

...of which there are a number. If only I could remember which one I had used! Some of 'em turn brown over the decades so I am wondering if you might know which kinds of spray are/is most permanent

If only I could remember so many of 'em; gotta give ya credit

One reason I rarely polished by tumbling

I have a nice old one though still pretty dirty, out the barn. If interested anyone living around Victorville should call [email protected]

Does however need new disk


But incid Man, now I've gotcha on the line, I have a chunk of calcium carbonate (?)--calcite(?) --it does fizz-- with streaks of red, black, orange, etc, apparent jasper. I had supposed it's travertine

Soon will learn how to insert photo but meantime wonder if you can guess what else it might be called, with many thanks once more

yeh its most likely travertine. There are other more rare ones with several other metal carbonates that form layers (Thats how tanzanite is formed in one place on earth)


Heres a chunk of gemmy lepidolite (Its actually a more massive form of mica)

Man thank you most immensely--esp since that was my guess--while my BH and friends will also be happy to learn this

Thanks also for the photo of lepidolite. I shall have to look it up in the hope of restoring some of my old mem

I bought a tanzenite ring for my wife when I visited Tanzania on one of my African safaris many decades ago. A lady in our group was a jewelry store owner, and she helped me pick the stone.

Most happy Cis to trig that mem

tanzanite used to be as valuable as a sapphire until the jewelers started screwing with zoisites and ullites to develop the Tanzanite colors. The way to tell em apart is to view them through different faces of the crystal. Tqnzanite has, whats called a "birefringence" where it plays different colors if you hold different fces up to the same light. Tanzanites will show purples, in one direction, bright blue in another, and often a warm yellow brown in another. (cool rock)
Be careful of the stone because its much softer than many gems (Its
harder than lepidolite.

I had a chance to visit the mines in the Uahara hills (i dont remember the name correctly), but we had some military mixeups in the neighboring country>

Farm thanks but I'm experiencing a setback: My base limestone was white and grainy so could it still be tanz

And by the way Man how does alabaster figure into this

Geologically, alabaster is only gypsum(fine grained hydrated calcium sulfate not calcium carbonate, which is calcite), , The two different minerals are often used interchangeably to the chochkey makers of the world

Aain thank you Man. Wondering if you should happen to know whether the sulfate fizzes

no the fizz test for sulfates involves somewacky chemicals.
Id suggest a "Taste test"

1Take your rock and wash it off.

2Take some spit on your finger and rub it along the rock and

3 then take that finger and put it to the tip of your tongue, sulfate has a bitter salty taste.

But you oughta be able to tell gypsum without any actual testing.
The fibrous gypsum forms these little Crystal strings, while stuff like selenite forms flat tab -like crystals. Usually found in salt pans.

I thought you were done with rockhounding??

Man thank you most kindly for that fundown
...s/b rundown of curse, but then...

Yes I had been, but then my BH's market for beautiful rocks...

Now I hafta persuade 'em also how lovely the uncut specs'