Acquisition and Online Display of High-Resolution Backscattered Electron and X-Ray Maps of Meteorite Sections

Analyses of meteorites in thin or thick section begins with a detailed mineralogic/petrologic study of the sample. Backscattered electron and X-ray imaging in a scanning electron microscope is critical for the characterization and study of the meteorite sections at sub-μm to cm size scales. Here, I describe techniques to acquire backscattered electron and X-ray images of an entire one-inch thin or thick section at high resolution, assemble large mosaic mosaic maps of the data, and display the maps conveniently online in a web browser. The code to acquire, stitch, and display the maps is made available as an open-source project on GitHub.