Aba Panu, L3.6-6

In the afternoon of April 19, 2018, a flash of light and deafening roar startled the residents of Southwestern Nigeria.  There were …

chondrite classification

From the chondrite information page, the petrographic classification scheme works kind of like this: completely altered by water into clay (no known …

Allegan, H5

Allegan’s a historic American fall from 1899.  It’s a fairly typical H-chondrite, with moderate porosity and well-defined chondrules. From Merrill and Stokes’ …

Bir Lehlou, H-chondrite

This 205 kilogram (451 pound) stone was found ~25 kilometers North of Bir Lehlou, in Western Sahara. It is the ~eighth largest …

Ash Creek, Texas

On February 15th, 2009 at around 11AM local time, a small asteroid entered the atmosphere and broke up over Birome, Texas.  Larger …

Breja, LL6

Breja is an odd fall that somehow escaped publication despite having a known find location, known fall date, and a fairly large …

Bruderheim, L6

Bruderheim’s arrival to Earth was accompanied by spectacular effects.  A complete account of the fall and its recovery can be seen here: …

Bunker Hill, L6

Meteoritical Bulletin entry for Bunker Hill. Robert Haag said that the stone had been found by a scrap collector among the ruins …

Carancas, H4-5

The Carancas meteorite violently exploded when it made landfall just south of Lake Titicaca on September 15, 2007.  It is one of …

Chico Hills, H5

I don’t have much information on this rare find beyond the original Meteoritical Bulletin No. 37. Here’s a 51 gram fusion-crusted quarter-cut …

Coolidge, CL4

Coolidge is an unusual carbonaceous chondrite.  It was initially classified as a CV3.8, and was later reclassified by different researchers as…a type-3.8 …

Correo, H4

This strewn field from New Mexico was discovered in the late 1970s.  The total known weight is just a few kilograms, and …

unequilibrated chondrite

chondrites

Chondrites are the most primitive group of meteorites.  They have formation ages dating to at least 4.56 billion years before the present, …

Dar el Kahal, H5

This stone was one of the larger attractions at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show of 2014.  Hundreds of kilograms were present, …

Dhofar 325, CO3.5

The average chondrule diameter of this stone is 100 – 200 µm: it isn’t an L-chondrite. From the Meteoritical Bulletin: Given the …

Dimmitt, H3.5-3.7

Dimmitt is one of the largest meteorites known from North America; hundreds of kilograms of fragments and individuals have been recovered from …

Forest City, H5

Forest City was a seminal American fall, studied by some of America’s earliest dedicated meteoriticists. A detail of note regarding this fall: …

Forestburg (b), L5

Here’s a chunk of a fairly uncommon American meteorite, which has otherwise been ~diced and distributed. From the Meteoritical Bulletin: 192.2 grams

Forrest 002, L6

Forrest (b), later named Forrest 002, was found in October of 1980.  I wasn’t able to track down information beyond the scant …

Gao, H5

On March 5th, 1960, stones fell amongst the rooftops of several villages near Burkina Faso’s border with Ghana. Sonic effects were heard …

Gashua, L6

Gashua was witnessed to fall in Nigeria in April, 1984.  I don’t have much to add to the Meteoritical Bulletin write-up. At …

Hamburg, H4

Hamburg was a fairly small fall that happened in the middle of Winter in Michigan — January 16th, 2018.  After hearing about …

Indian Butte, H5

From the Meteoritical Bulletin: We spent a few days in the area in the summer of 2013, but didn’t have access to …

Izarzar, H5

After hearing reports of a fireball in Morocco in late October of 2012, I kept an eye out for stones, but saw …

Karoonda, CK4

Karoonda is the type specimen of the CK-meteorite class, meaning that it is the first CK chondrite to be known or recognized.  …

Kennard, H5

This stone was obtained by Ralph Velich in 1961, and he documented everything fastidiously from then onwards.  He described how he obtained …

Kerman, R3

Kerman was purchased in 2009 from a German mineral dealer.  The small cut stone came from an old mineral collection with a …

Knyahinya, L/LL5

Knyahinya is a historic fall from Hungary.  It was one of the largest meteorite falls to have been observed at the time …

Košice, H5

Košice was a relatively large fall in Slovakia in 2010.  Here’s the Meteoritical Bulletin write-up: A video of the fireball, recorded from …

Kunashak, L6

Kunashak fell as a massive shower of stones: at least 20 fell, with a total weight of over 200 kilograms!  The largest …

La Colina, H5

La Colina fell at 11:30 pm local time on March 19, 1924, in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina.  Following a bright …

La Luz, H4

I don’t have much more information on this one than is in the Meteoritical Bulletin: 3,518 gram main mass.  Photos will be …

Ladder Creek, L6

35 kilograms of fragments were recovered from a field by a farmer named Edgar Linn in 1937.  Nininger recovered them: The Ladder …

Las Vegas, Ordinary Chondrite

This small, complete stone was  found in an empty lot along the Las Vegas strip by a metal detectorist.  The finder mailed …

Leedey, L6

The Leedey meteorite fell in Oklahoma on November 35, 1943.  Following a large fireball, 24 stones were recovered, with a total known …

MacKay Glacier, Ordinary Chondrite

This specimen was one of three meteorites found on MacKay Glacier (Victoria Land, Antarctica) by the crew of an environmental organization in …

New Mexico, H-chondrite

The finder of this stone posted it on eBay as a meteorite in early 2011, with a single blurry photo and no …

Matamoros, H6

This 30.4 kilogram stone came from just South of the border, near the town of Matamoros, Mexico.  The owner posted some photos …

Monze, L6

This fall took place in Zambia on October 5, 1950, at ~4:20 am local time.  Sonic effects were heard over an area …

Moorabie, Anomalous L3.8

This enigmatic meteorite has been plaguing researchers for years.  Moorabie and a number of other H/L3-4 anomalous chondrites exhibit characteristics of both …

Ness County, L6

Ness County is a fairly old, but well-distributed meteorite, originally discovered in 1897.  Many institutions possess specimens, but few have been traded …

New Concord, L6

There’s not much in the Meteoritical Bulletin on New Concord. I was able to track down a PDF of Farrington’s 1915 book, …

NWA 978, R3.8

There’s not much in the Meteoritical Bulletin other than the basic information: R3.8, S3, W2, total known weight: 722 grams. Of note: …

NWA 6494, H/L3

This cute stone came from Rob Elliott some years ago.  From his photos, it was easy to tell that the stone was …

NWA 6504, L3.6

I don’t have much to add to the write-up; this stone was purchased already-cut from a dealer.  When it is polished, many …

NWA 6505, CK4

This stone was classified as a CK4, S2, Wi 4 (Wi stands for the new weathering index determined for CK chondrites by …

NWA 6506, CV3

Here’s a pretty one — nice chondrules.  The end pictured was used for the type specimen. Link to Meteoritical Bulletin:  

NWA 6508, EL3

NWA 6508 was purchased as an unclassified NWA meteorite on eBay in September of 2009.  The seller had cut it in half, …

NWA 7406, EL3

EL3’s are extraordinarily rare.  This stone is one of the four approved non-Antarctic EL3’s, as of 2020.  Here’s the main mass of …

NWA 7411, CV3

This brick of a meteorite is a specimen that we bring to every outreach event.  Chondrules, big CAIs, it’s perfect.  And it’s …

NWA 7634, carbonaceous chondrite

This ~850 gram carbonaceous chondrite is something of an enigma.  The original classification was “CO3,” with a description that described it as …

NWA 7669, LL3

This oriented stone has nice flow lines and what appears to be a huge type B CAI in the cut face, which …

NWA 7715, H6

Initial work suggested this stone was an H7.  It was later shown to be an H6.  The main mass weighs a little …

NWA 7789, LL3.1-LL6

This stunning 8.2 kilogram polymict breccia was recovered as a broken individual.  We don’t usually cut stones much, but this stone began …

NWA 7800, R-chondrite

This  45 gram stone is one of the freshest rumuruti chondrites found.  Glimmering sulfides can be seen on all surfaces.  Mottled matrix …

NWA 7802, CM2

This CM2 came from a Moroccan meteorite dealer several years ago.  We finally got around to requesting a provisional number in late …

NWA 7805, CK4

This 45 gram oriented CK chondrite was purchased in 2011 from a Moroccan meteorite dealer.

NWA 7806, CO3

This complete stone has a wonderful shape and is quite fresh.  More data when it comes…

NWA 7807, type-3 chondrite

This is a very cool meteorite originally sold to us as a pairing with NWA 801, a CR2.  Two of the stones …

Northwest Africa 7892, CO3.0

This stone is one of the most pristine chondrites known. All carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites have experienced some thermal and aqueous alteration.  …

NWA 10085, K4

After a first round of analyses on the microprobe at UCLA, this stone left us with more questions than answers.  It is …

NWA 10088, LL3

This stone’s total known weight is 209.6 grams and it has been classified as an LL3 S1 W4.  This is the ~180 …

NWA xxxx, LL3.00

This meteorite is a fun one; I’m adding it because we’ve been dragging our feet about cutting it, and it’s pretty enough …

Northwest Africa, CV3

This beautiful stone with weathered fluting and flow lines was purchased in Erfoud from Mohamed Benzaki.  473.53 + 242.43 gram fitting fragments.

NWA, ordinary chondrite I

This ordinary chondrite has one of the nicer shapes I’ve seen; it’s concave, and flares to a point.  It also has an …

NWA, ordinary chondrite II

This stone was one of the nicer ones we saw on our 2011 trip to Morocco.  It’s flight-marked with flow-lines and lipping; …

NWA, ordinary chondrite III

At the 2019 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, Moussa Minerals seemed to be everywhere: they had multiple tents set up at Kino Park, …

Novato, L6

For the story behind the stones, click here.

Octave Mine, H5

This stone was found on Christmas day in 2004, by a metal-detectorist in Arizona.  It is classified as an H5 S1 W3. …

Olton, H3.5

When two stones were found near Olton, Texas in 1948, they were initially thought to be paired with each other — and …

Oum Dreyga (Amgala), H3-5

Amgala was a small fall that occurred in a remote part of Western Sahara; the meteorite itself is a pretty breccia of …

Palca de Aparzo, L5

Oscar Turone visited the location and documented this 1988 fall — per the Meteoritical Bulletin: This 1995 Meteoryt! Magazine article describes the …

Potter, L6

This rock isn’t particularly noteworthy; Potter is a common type, has a large total known weight, and it is well-distributed.  It is …

Putinga, L6

The Meteoritical Bulletin has scant information on the fall, but I was able to track down the following paper: Studies of Brazilian …

Park Forest, L6

At approximately 11:50 PM local time on March 26, 2003, the Chicago suburb of Park Forest was pelted with rocks from space.  …

Patrimonio, L6

Patrimonio fell on August 6, 1950, in Brazil.  Per Grady’s Catalogue of Meteorites, approximately 20 stones were recovered, the largest of which …

Pervomaisky, L6

Pervomaisky fell on 26 December, 1933, in the USSR.  A total of 97 stones weighing a total of approximately 49 kg were …

Plainview, H5

Plainview is one of the larger American meteorites ever found, by weight.  At least a tonne of individuals and fragments have been …

Quitovac, L5

The story of Quitovac is very similar to those of many other chondrites from the Southwest.  Metal-detecting prospectors near the gold mines …

Richardton, H5

Richardton fell in North Dakota at 21:48 on 19 June, 1918.  The bolide was seen up to 400 miles away, and sonic …

Roosevelt County 082, H4

Roosevelt County, New Mexico, is home to many deflation surfaces like this one, near Arch Lake: Many meteorite hunters have successfully hunted …

Santa Vitoria do Palmar, L3

This Brazilian find was supposedly related to a fireball seen in the region only six years earlier, but the extensive chemical and …

Sołtmany, L6

On April 30, 2011, just past 6am local time, a ~1 kilogram meteorite fell through the roof and eaves of a building …

Sutter’s Mill, California

Sutter’s Mill was another one of those falls that happens at just the wrong time.  We had radar data almost immediately, knew …

Stecker, ordinary chondrite

This small stone came from a long-time meteorite dealer.  He purchased it along with a lot of Caddo County, but this piece …

Sulagiri, LL6

Sulagiri is the largest witnessed fall to occur on the Indian subcontinent.  Over 150 kilograms of stones were recovered following a large …

Thuathe, H4/5

The Meteoritical Bulletin write-up contains a fairly detailed account of the fall: Here are a few papers describing the fall: The Thuathe …

Tulia (a), H3-4

From Meteoritics Vol. 17, pp 229-230. Many different finds have been identified in the area, but Tulia (a) is an unusual unequilibrated …

Vernon County, H6

This meteorite has a wonderful history.  A bright fireball was observed on the morning of March 25, 1865.  The fall was witnessed …

Wellman (c), H4

There’s precious little about this meteorite available online: a 1974 paper by Derek W. Sears states that the meteorite had a terrestrial …

Weston, H4

Weston was the first witnessed, recovered, American fall.  There are some great anecdotes from the eyewitnesses and other important persons of the …

Whetstone Mountains, Arizona

On the night of June 22, 2009, a small asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere above Mexico, moving roughly NNE.  It broke up over …