Saratov, L4

Saratov is an unusually friable and chondrule-rich meteorite.  It is similar to Bjurbole and a few other odd L/LL4 chondrites known for shedding loose chondrules when handled.

About 330 kg of stones were recovered at the time of the fall, making Saratov one of the larger witnessed falls in recorded history.  Most of this meteorite is still curated in Russia, but a few specimens were traded out of Soviet / Russian institutions over the past ~century.

I wasn’t able to track down much in the way of eyewitness accounts or other information on this meteorite; there are mentions of two primary sources that might have described the fall in detail, written circa 1920, but older Russian sources tend to be pretty difficult to track down.  I couldn’t find digital or hard copies of either one.

This ~690 gram crusted fragment was sold by Marlin Cilz to Jim Schwade in 1994.  It has an interesting troilite inclusion in one end that’s about 3 cm long.  Thanks to Blaine Reed for making it available.