Collection highlights
Click on the links below to read more about the meteorites in the Carleton B. Moore collection and view meteorite photos!
Bilanga
October’s Meteorite of the Month is Bilanga, an achondrite meteorite (meaning that it formed on a differentiated planetary body, and does not contain chondrules) that fell in Burkina Faso, October 27 of 1999. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB84): After a widely witnessed shower, at least 25 kg of meteorites with fresh black fusion crust…
Dashoguz
September’s Meteorite of the Month is Dashoguz, an ordinary (H5) chondrite that fell September 5, 1998. The meteorite’s fall was witnessed near the city of Daşoguz, in northern Turkmenistan, but it took several weeks of searching to find a very small crater containing just over 15 lb (7 kg) of the meteorite – all that…
Tarda
August's Meteorite of the Month is Tarda, a carbonaceous (C2-ung) chondrite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 109): "On Tuesday, 25 August 2020, around 2:30 pm Moroccan time (GMT+1) a fireball was widely witnessed by people in southern Morocco from Alnif, Zagora, Tazarine, and Rich. The fireball…
Djati-Pengilon
Djati-Pengilon is an ordinary (H6) chondrite that fell the afternoon of March 19, 1884 in the Ngawi Regency of Indonesia. A single stone weighing over 365 lb (166 kg) was recovered from the Aloesta river following a fireball and detonations. According to the Meteoritical Society, the high-iron (H) chemical group of ordinary chondrites is distinguished…
Angers
Angers is an L6 chondrite. This daytime meteorite fall occurred June 3rd of 1822, and the stones landed in a garden in the city of Angers, France, located approximately 300 km south-west of Paris. Following, is an account of the event as later related in the Edinburgh Advertiser newspaper (Scotland): Tuesday, January 14, 1823 ACCOUNT…
Stannern
Stannern is an achondrite belonging to the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) group of meteorites, believed to have formed on the surface of asteroid 4-Vesta. Eucrites are the most common type of achondrite meteorite falls (vs. finds) and are believed to have formed from the cooling of magma on the surface of the Asteroid 4-Vesta; the number 4…
Fisher
Fisher is an ordinary (L6) chondrite that fell in Minnesota the afternoon of April 9th, 1894. Fisher is an L6 chondrite; the Meteoritical Society distinguishes L-group chondrites by their relatively low siderophile element content, moderate sized chondrules, and oxygen isotope compositions between those of H and LL group ordinary chondrites. Type 6 meteorites have been…
Parnallee
Parnallee is an ordinary (LL3.6) chondrite that fell February 28th, 1857, in Tamil Nadu, India. Parnallee is a low-iron, low metal (LL) chondrite exhibiting abundant chondrules, un-equilibrated mineral assemblages, and a low degree of aqueous alteration. Over 77 kilograms of the Parnallee meteorite have been recovered to date. The overwhelming majority of meteorites recovered in…
Alais
Alais is a carbonaceous chondrite that fell in southern France in 1806. Alais was the first recognized carbonaceous chondrite, and occurred just 3 years after the historic fall at L’Aigle convinced the scientific community that meteorites could, indeed, fall to Earth. On the late afternoon of March 15, 1806, residents of the rural communities of…
Lissa
Note: While we usually feature a meteorite that's fallen in the current month, our Curator, Dr. Laurence Garvie, liked this photo so much that we decided to share it now, rather than waiting. Lissa is an ordinary (L6) chondrite that fell at 3:30PM on September 3, 1808, in what is now the Czech Republic, near…
