Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History

June 14, 1995

Dear Ron and Karen:

I received you rock specimen and request for information here in the Department of Mineral Sciences. Your specimen had us
somewhat stumped at first. In the future it would be extremely helpful to include information describing where the
specimen was found (at least which U.S. state).

Your specimen is nephrite, a variety of jade. To determine this I looked at a thin section. What makes it unusual is the fact that it has orbicular structure. “Orbicular” implies that the rock contains “concentric shells of different texture and/or mineralogy about a central core.” “*Orbicules can be very different and “The heterogeneity of orbicules implies that no single explanation of origin is applicable to all occurrences. “*There are many theories for orbicule formation (at least 6 or 7) that you can easily research yourself, and would be difficult to attempt to explain in a letter.

Nephrite is a metamorphic rock that commonly occurs at convergent margins – places where two tectonic plates collide, and
subduction occurs (one plate forced under another), producing high temperature and pressure environments. I have enclosed a page out
of a good reference that included a little more information.

Thank you for thinking of the Smithsonian Institution.

July ‘95: On a subsequent call we were informed that the Smithsonian Institution did not now think it was nephrite but had never seen this type of stone, and they could not figure out what it was…or where it came from!

The Smithsonian Institute wanted a large specimen for display at their Earth, Sciences and Space Museum.

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"It is unlike anything any of us have ever seen”
“I cannot find anything like it in the literature.”
“This rock is obviously something New or at least Unusual.”

American Museum of Natural History

Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences

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"Your specimen is nephrite, a variety of jade. To determine
this I looked at a thin section. What makes it unusual is the fact
that it has orbicular structure. “Orbicular” implies that the rock
contains “concentric shells of different texture and/or mineralogy
about a central core.”

...and afterwards by phone they said their conclusion of Nephrite was in error and then said “We have never seen this type stone and cannot figure out what it is and where it came from.”

Smithsonian Institution

                                                 National Museum of Natural History
                                                 Rock and Ore Collection
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"Jadeite, a member of the pyroxene group has the formula: (NA, AL, FE) SI₂ 0₆.
This is a much better fit to your X-ray energy dispersive analysis (EDX) results.
In conclusion I think it is Jadeite, and perhaps the special version Chloromelanite."

Dr. Dave Douglass

Douglass minerals
Retired mineralogical researcher UCLA.

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"It is a fresh and Unusual alkalik volcanic rock predominantly composed of the four minerals Quartz, Anorthoclase, Riebeckite and Aegirine. The light green spherules you see in the stone composed of radiating fibers are Riebeckite needles mantled with fine grained Aegirine. The darker matrix is richer in Riebeckite and also contains more Quartz.”

Dr. Sid Williams

                                                             Consulting Petrographer. Globo De Plomo
                                                            Co-Author of Mineralogy of Arizona
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You may have seen a new lapidary material being offered for sale recently. It's called "Nebula Stone^TM," and is a dark-green, nearly black, shiny material with fascinating, light-green, swirling orbicules scattered through the dark matrix. These inclusions make the rock look like the night sky viewed through a telescope, wherein you see galaxies, nebulae and individual stars scattered against a dark background- hence, the name Nebula Stone.

What makes Nebula Stone so unusual is that it has been analyzed by several noted scientists without anyone coming up with a definitive answer as to what type of rock it actually is. Using a variety of recognized techniques, scientists have studied the rock carefully, yet cannot come to a final, similar conclusion.
"It is highly regarded as an energy stone and healing stone by people who are metaphysically attuned."

"The stone now enjoyed by the mineralogist, the lapidary and the spiritually inclined alike."

Bob Jones, Senior Editor

Rock and Gem Magazine

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Unpolished Nebula Stone Nugget Nebula stone Minerologic page

A note to Mineral Collectors

We have pages for those interested in the Scientific, the Geologic, the Mineralogical and the Esoteric for our many customers of varied interests.

Webster's dictionary: Esoteric/Metaphysical: Other than Physical. Relating to the transcendent or to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses.

I received a call from a gruff sounding gentleman that wanted to know about Nebula Stone. I didn't know what his interests were so I mentioned that he could read some of the stuff on the pages on our web site. I mentioned that there was scientific, Geologic/Mineralogical, Rock Hounding articles and esoteric/metaphysical writings.

He then said (real load) "Oh, I don't believe in that metaphysical Crap"

whereupon I asked

" Well then... tell me this.

"What... is... more... metaphysical... than the... belief... in God...?"

....silence on the other end of the phone.

Then he said... "hmm... I see."... then he laughed and said "Thank you for that."

We sell to all Mineral collectors no matter their belief systems. We are happy to help everyone in obtaining a fine mineral specimen for their collections. Nebula Stone is a recent geologic, mineralogical discovery, with a unique combination of minerals, named for it's Cosmological resemblance.

(the gentleman did acquire a fine Specimen for his collection.)

STARDUST TO STARDUST

Every atom in your body is billions of years old. Hydrogen, the most common element in the universe and a major feature of your body, was produced in the big bang 13.7bn years ago. Heavier atoms such as carbon and oxygen were forged in stars between 7bn and 12bn years ago, and blasted across space when the stars exploded. Some of these explosions were so powerful that they also produced the elements heavier than iron, which stars can't construct. This means that the components of your body are truly ancient: You are stardust.

Mineral Sphere Page

Mineral Specimens

Back to Mineralogical Analysis link page

Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan Cosmos Carl Sagan We are made of Star Stuff, We are in the Universe and the Universe is within us. "Just like the Nebulas, Just like Ourselves...Everything is Reborn and Continues".

Carl Sagan

Soon after entering elementary school, he began to express a strong inquisitiveness about nature.
Sagan recalled taking his first trips to the public library alone, at the age of five, when his mother got him a library card.
He wanted to learn what stars were, since none of his friends or their parents could give him a clear answer:

"I went to the librarian and asked for a book about stars ...
And the answer was stunning.
It was that the Sun was a star but really close.
The stars were suns, but so far away they were just little points of light ...
The scale of the universe suddenly opened up to me. It was a kind of religious experience.
There was a magnificence to it, a grandeur, a scale which has never left me. Never ever left me."*

Carl Sagan Cosmos Carl Sagan We are made of Star Stuff, We are in the Universe and the Universe is within us. "Just like the Nebulas, Just like Ourselves...Everything is Reborn and Continues".

Jack Horkheimer "Keep looking up."