| Aeschynite-(Ce) | |
| Category: | Oxide minerals |
| Imasymbol: | Aes-Ce[1] |
| Strunz: | 4.DF.05 |
| Dana: | 08.03.06.01 |
| System: | Orthorhombic Dipyramidal class |
| Symmetry: | H-M symbol (2/m 2/m 2/m) |
| Unit Cell: | a = 11.08, b = 7.56 c = 5.37 [Å]; Z = 4 |
| Molweight: | 305.70 g/mol |
| Color: | Brown, light brown, brownish black, yellow, black |
| Habit: | Acicular, massive |
| Cleavage: | None |
| Fracture: | Brittle - conchoidal |
| Tenacity: | Brittle |
| Mohs: | 5 - 6 |
| Luster: | Adamantine, resinous to waxy, sub-metallic; dull when altered |
| Streak: | Nearly black to brown |
| Diaphaneity: | Transparent to translucent |
| Gravity: | 4.52 |
| Density: | 5.19 |
| Opticalprop: | Isotropic when metamict |
| Refractive: | 2.26 |
| References: | [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] |
Aeschynite-(Ce) (or Aschynite, Eschinite, Eschynite) is a rare earth mineral of cerium, calcium, iron, thorium, titanium, niobium, oxygen, and hydrogen with chemical formula . Its name comes from the Greek word αισχύνη ("aeschyne") for "shame" because early chemists had difficulty with separations of titanium from zirconium.[7]
The "-(Ce)" means it has more cerium than the yttrium variety aeschynite-(Y). Its Mohs scale rating is 5–6.