Collection highlights
Click on the links below to read more about the meteorites in the Carleton B. Moore collection and view meteorite photos!
Johnstown
The Johnstown meteorite fell the afternoon of July 6, 1924, in Weld County, Colorado. Johnstown is an achondrite (meaning that it formed on a differentiated planetary body, and does not contain chondrules) from the diogenite group. Part of the HED (Howardites, Eucrites and Diogenites) group of achondrites, diogenites are believed to originate in the crust…
Utrecht
Utrecht is an ordinary (L6) chondrite that fell June 2nd, 1843, in the Netherlands. The meteorite’s spectacular fall was described by Dr. E.H. Baumhauer (Annalen der Physik 142(12): 465-506). Three to four explosions, compared to loud cannon fire, were heard within a 25 km radius of the city of Utrecht, followed by a whistling that…
Mayday
Mayday is an ordinary (H4) chondrite found on a farm near Mayday, Kansas. The stone was discovered by the farm’s owner, who noticed an odd stone protruding from the bank of his farm pond in July of 1955. The farmer was curious as to the stone’s origin, since it seemed different from the surrounding rocks,…
Gujba
April’s Meteorite of the Month is Gujba, a bencubbinite (CBa) meteorite that fell in April of 1984. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 85), Gujba was witnessed by the occupants of the village of Bogga Dingare, Nigeria, as it fell in a cornfield the evening of April 3rd, 1984. Because the villagers broke it into…
Sioux County
Sioux County is an achondrite (eucrite-mmict) that fell in Nebraska August 8th, 1933. The meteorite’s fall to Earth was well-recorded as it was mistaken for an earthquake by some, and written up in local newspapers. This article first appeared on page 5 of the Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska), Thursday, August 10, 1933: Report Meteor Buried…
Haverö
Haverö is a ureilite (achondrite) that fell on the island of Haverö, Finland, August 2, 1971. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 51): “It was a bright day and a fireball was not observed. There were numerous reports of noise like thunder or jet aircraft sonic booms. These sounds were said to have been heard…
Ipiranga
Ipiranga is an ordinary (H6) chondrite that fell the morning of December 27, 1972, in Brazil. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 52): “A bright object heading in a westerly direction was seen to cross the cloudless morning sky of southwest Parana State. It appeared as an “airplane on fire” or a “flying torch” and…
Chajari
Chajari is an ordinary (L5) chondrite that fell the afternoon of November 29, 1933, in Argentina. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 21): “The fall of the meteorite was accompanied by intense sounds resembling thunder followed by the sound of a blow on the ground. The stone was dug up from a depth of over…
Spade
Spade is an ordinary (H6) chondrite found in Lamb County, Texas, in October of 2000. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 87), “a single mass of 8.86 kg was found in a grass field by Mr. J. Talbert while farming.” Photo © ASU/BCMS.
Benld
Benld is an ordinary chondrite (H6) that fell the morning of September 29th, 1938, in Macoupin County, Illinois. The Benld meteorite was only the second meteorite recovered in Illinois (there are now 10 recognized meteorites from the state), and its fall was quite spectacular. The meteorite was described by B.H. Wilson in Popular Astronomy (1938)…
