| Wassonite | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Sulfide mineral |
|
Formula (repeating unit) |
TiS |
| Crystal system | Trigonal |
| Crystal class | Hexagonal scalenohedral (3m) H-M symbol: (3 2/m) |
| Space group | R3m |
| Identification | |
| References | |
Wassonite is an extremely rare titanium sulfide mineral with chemical formula TiS. Its discovery was announced in a 2011 NASA press release as a single small grain within an enstatite chondrite meteorite called "Yamato 691", which was found during a 1969 Japanese expedition to Antarctica. This grain represents the first observation in nature of the synthetic compound titanium(II) sulfide.
The mineral was named after John T. Wasson, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and was approved by the International Mineralogical Association.