Uakitite

Uakitite is a mineral that has been found in a single meteorite on earth, the Uakit meteorite, named for the location (ru) in which it was found in Russia. Uakitite is composed of vanadium nitride with formula VN.[1] While the majority of the meteorite is composed of iron and nickel, a small percentage of the meteorite contains minerals that are only found in space, including uakitite.[2] Like other mononitrides, it is estimated to be very hard, however, studying all the properties has proven difficult as the only samples are 5 micrometers in size, many times smaller than a grain of sand.

The name is derived by the location the meteorite was found, and named at the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society.[3]

Uakitite is a colloquial name only and has not been approved by the International Mineralogical Association.

References

  1. ↑ "Uakitite: Uakitite mineral information and data". www.mindat.org.
  2. ↑ Kimberly Hickok (6 August 2018). "Mineral never seen on Earth found inside Russian meteorite". Fox News. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "81st Annual Meeting of The Meteoritical Society 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2067)" (PDF).


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