Kuratite
A meteorite mineral recognized in 2014, named for Gero Kurat, curator of Vienna's meteorite collection.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Kuratite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Ca₂(Fe²⁺₅Ti)O₂[Si₄Al₂O₁₈].
It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system (space group P-1). It is a member of the Sapphirine structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 3.906.
IMA symbol Kur, IMA status: approved, named in 2013.
Found in multiple-phase pockets, located mainly at olivine-augite triple junctions in an angrite meteorite, probably crystallized from an interstitial melt. Terrestrial occurrences include as a component in tephrite glass.
It is found associated with Whitlockite, an Fe sulfide, ulvöspinel, Ca-rich fayalite, Al-Ti-bearing hedenbergite (meteorite).
The mineral was named to honor Professor Gero Kurat (1938-2009), former Head of the Mineralogical-Petrographical Department and Curator of the Meteorite Collection, Natural History Museum, Vienna.