Collection highlights
Click on the links below to read more about the meteorites in the Carleton B. Moore collection and view meteorite photos!
Hessle
New Year’s Day Meteorite! Hessle is an ordinary (H5) chondrite that fell south of Uppsala, Sweden January 1, 1869, shortly after noon. This was the first meteorite fall ever witnessed in Sweden, and was seen by a number of people as they were leaving church. It was an overcast day in Hessle, so the bright…
Sena
Sena is an ordinary (H4) chondrite that fell November 17, 1773, near Sarinena, Spain. The meteorite was later analyzed by the French chemist J. L. Proust, who may have been the first to recommend cold deserts, such as polar regions, for meteorite recovery. He determined this in 1805, based on the iron-nickel inclusions in Sena…
Zagami
Zagami is a martian meteorite that fell near Katsina, Nigeria the afternoon of October 3, 1962. The meteorite’s impact startled a local farmer, as the stone embedded itself in his cornfield, a short 10 feet from where he was standing! With 18 kg recovered, Zagami is the largest martian meteorite on record. Zagami is classified…
Mezö-Madaras
Mezö-Madaras is an L3.7 ordinary chondrite that fell in Harghita, Romania on September 4th, 1852. Over 22 kg (50 lbs) of this meteorite fell in a shower of stones. Mezö-Madaras is a very interesting meteorite because it is unequilibrated, meaning that its asteroid parent-body underwent very little change after forming 4.56 billion years ago. This…
Honolulu
Honolulu is a 2.4 kg. ordinary (L5) chondrite that fell September 27, 1825. Honolulu is one of only two meteorites ever recovered from Hawaii, both of which were observed falls. The second was Palolo Valley, a 682 g. ordinary (H5) chondrite that fell in Oahu April 24 of 1949. The vast majority of meteorites…
Hangman Crossing
Hangman Crossing was found in May of 1976. This H4 chondrite was found by Mr. C.F. Miller, who discovered it near the Indiana county road intersection that gave the meteorite its name. Suspecting it to be a meteorite, Mr. Miller kept the stone until the birth of his grandson, 11 years later, to whom he…
Bishunpur
Bishunpur is an LL3 ordinary chondrite that fell in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh at 3pm on April 26th, 1895. While four stones were preceeded by detonations and witnessed falling, two were lost shortly after recovery, and only the stones from Bishunpur and Parjabatpur, totalling just over 1 kg, were preserved. Of the…
Gao-Guenie
Gao-Guenie is an H5 ordinary chondrite that fell in the province of Sissili, Burkina Faso in 1960. For many years, this stone was the source of some confusion in the meteorite world! According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 39, MB 57, MB 83), approximately 16 stones were seen to fall in the village of Gao,…
Centerville
Leap Year Meteorite! Centerville is an H5 ordinary chondrite of which only one 45.6g stone was ever recovered. Centerville fell in Turner County, South Dakota, February 29th of 1956. Although its fall was not witnessed, it was recovered the morning after, as it had punctured the aluminium roof of a machine shed and hit a…
Barwell
Barwell is an L5 chondrite that fell near Leicester, in Great Britain. The afternoon of December 24th, 1965, a large fireball was seen travelling across England’s skies. Soon after, there was a loud sonic boom, and several meteorite pieces rained down upon the village of Barwell, in Leicestershire, hitting buildings and roads but, luckily, none…
