The Orcunama meteorite fell in the Philippines in 2011.
It has been classified chondrite type H3-4.
A single stone of 7800 g covered with a dark fusion crust was discovered.
On the clear and sunny morning of March 7, 2011, three farmers (Fredo Manzano, Edgar Francisco Senior and Enrico Camacho Junior) in Orconuma, Bongabonga, Philippines were clearing their field when they were startled by six consecutive loud explosions. The sound of the explosions seemed to last for half a minute. At first they thought it was thunder because the ground was shaking. As they looked up to the sky, they saw a “burning red object with sparks coming out of it”, leaving a thick trail of smoke and making a characteristic hissing sound before it hit the ground. By their own admission, the farmers initially thought it was a bomb and considered that it might be “the end of the world.” They remember that the birds flew away immediately at the sound of the explosions. They went to look, and less than 10 meters away, they found a hole in the ground, surrounded by stirred up dirt and what looked like burnt grass. Inside the hole, about 1 m deep, they saw a stone object and, lacking tools, they used a piece of wood lying nearby and their bare hands to dig it up. Not knowing what this strange stone was, they started asking around, and showing the stone to the locals, but then they were afraid someone would try to take it from them. This fear led them to wrap it in a sealed plastic container before burying it underground for a year. They finally decided that no one would come looking for it, so they dug up the stone and stored it in Fredo Manzano’s closet for the next 8 years. In 2020, they were interviewed for a local TV newscast (later posted on YouTube with over 5 million views), and during the filming, the stone was visually examined by geologist Jocelyn Villanueva, who concluded that it might be a type of basaltic volcanic rock. The farmers, however, remained convinced that it could be a meteorite and hired Ramelle Baquil Ramirez to help them find a buyer. Subsequently in April 2021, with the assistance of an experienced tektite dealer (Carmelita Cepe), the stone was acquired jointly by John Higgins and Jasper Spencer.
The Orcunama meteorite fell in the Philippines in 2011.
It has been classified chondrite type H3-4.
A single stone of 7800 g covered with a dark fusion crust was discovered.
On the clear and sunny morning of March 7, 2011, three farmers (Fredo Manzano, Edgar Francisco Senior and Enrico Camacho Junior) in Orconuma, Bongabonga, Philippines were clearing their field when they were startled by six consecutive loud explosions. The sound of the explosions seemed to last for half a minute. At first they thought it was thunder because the ground was shaking. As they looked up to the sky, they saw a “burning red object with sparks coming out of it”, leaving a thick trail of smoke and making a characteristic hissing sound before it hit the ground. By their own admission, the farmers initially thought it was a bomb and considered that it might be “the end of the world.” They remember that the birds flew away immediately at the sound of the explosions. They went to look, and less than 10 meters away, they found a hole in the ground, surrounded by stirred up dirt and what looked like burnt grass. Inside the hole, about 1 m deep, they saw a stone object and, lacking tools, they used a piece of wood lying nearby and their bare hands to dig it up. Not knowing what this strange stone was, they started asking around, and showing the stone to the locals, but then they were afraid someone would try to take it from them. This fear led them to wrap it in a sealed plastic container before burying it underground for a year. They finally decided that no one would come looking for it, so they dug up the stone and stored it in Fredo Manzano’s closet for the next 8 years. In 2020, they were interviewed for a local TV newscast (later posted on YouTube with over 5 million views), and during the filming, the stone was visually examined by geologist Jocelyn Villanueva, who concluded that it might be a type of basaltic volcanic rock. The farmers, however, remained convinced that it could be a meteorite and hired Ramelle Baquil Ramirez to help them find a buyer. Subsequently in April 2021, with the assistance of an experienced tektite dealer (Carmelita Cepe), the stone was acquired jointly by John Higgins and Jasper Spencer.
Tiglit is a rare aubrite that fell in Morocco on December 10, 2021.
The first specimens or samples collected without scientific data have reached exorbitant prices up to 600 euros per gram, marketed as a lunar meteorite. Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi, expert in meteorites and founder responsible for the University Museum of Meteorites, confirmed the authenticity of the news of the fall of a meteorite in the south-east of Morocco near the village of Tiglit and indicated that the analyses carried out by the University Museum of Meteorites confirm that it is indeed a celestial rock of the aubrite type of asteroidal origin thus calming down some of the hunters of meteorites who thought that they had made a fortune.
I this date only 72 meteorites of this type have been classified.
It is a rare type of meteorite, difficult to find on the market.
The name Aubrites is linked to the fall of a meteorite in France at Aubres in 1836. They are composed mainly of orthopyroxene to enstatite.
Tiglit is a rare aubrite that fell in Morocco on December 10, 2021.
The first specimens or samples collected without scientific data have reached exorbitant prices up to 600 euros per gram, marketed as a lunar meteorite. Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi, expert in meteorites and founder responsible for the University Museum of Meteorites, confirmed the authenticity of the news of the fall of a meteorite in the south-east of Morocco near the village of Tiglit and indicated that the analyses carried out by the University Museum of Meteorites confirm that it is indeed a celestial rock of the aubrite type of asteroidal origin thus calming down some of the hunters of meteorites who thought that they had made a fortune.
I this date only 72 meteorites of this type have been classified.
It is a rare type of meteorite, difficult to find on the market.
The name Aubrites is linked to the fall of a meteorite in France at Aubres in 1836. They are composed mainly of orthopyroxene to enstatite.
Tiglit is a rare aubrite that fell in Morocco on December 10, 2021.
The first specimens or samples collected without scientific data have reached exorbitant prices up to 600 euros per gram, marketed as a lunar meteorite. Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi, expert in meteorites and founder responsible for the University Museum of Meteorites, confirmed the authenticity of the news of the fall of a meteorite in the south-east of Morocco near the village of Tiglit and indicated that the analyses carried out by the University Museum of Meteorites confirm that it is indeed a celestial rock of the aubrite type of asteroidal origin thus calming down some of the hunters of meteorites who thought that they had made a fortune.
I this date only 72 meteorites of this type have been classified.
It is a rare type of meteorite, difficult to find on the market.
The name Aubrites is linked to the fall of a meteorite in France at Aubres in 1836. They are composed mainly of orthopyroxene to enstatite.
Tiglit is a rare aubrite that fell in Morocco on December 10, 2021.
The first specimens or samples collected without scientific data have reached exorbitant prices up to 600 euros per gram, marketed as a lunar meteorite. Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi, expert in meteorites and founder responsible for the University Museum of Meteorites, confirmed the authenticity of the news of the fall of a meteorite in the south-east of Morocco near the village of Tiglit and indicated that the analyses carried out by the University Museum of Meteorites confirm that it is indeed a celestial rock of the aubrite type of asteroidal origin thus calming down some of the hunters of meteorites who thought that they had made a fortune.
I this date only 72 meteorites of this type have been classified.
It is a rare type of meteorite, difficult to find on the market.
The name Aubrites is linked to the fall of a meteorite in France at Aubres in 1836. They are composed mainly of orthopyroxene to enstatite.
Tiglit is a rare aubrite that fell in Morocco on December 10, 2021.
The first specimens or samples collected without scientific data have reached exorbitant prices up to 600 euros per gram, marketed as a lunar meteorite. Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi, expert in meteorites and founder responsible for the University Museum of Meteorites, confirmed the authenticity of the news of the fall of a meteorite in the south-east of Morocco near the village of Tiglit and indicated that the analyses carried out by the University Museum of Meteorites confirm that it is indeed a celestial rock of the aubrite type of asteroidal origin thus calming down some of the hunters of meteorites who thought that they had made a fortune.
I this date only 72 meteorites of this type have been classified.
It is a rare type of meteorite, difficult to find on the market.
The name Aubrites is linked to the fall of a meteorite in France at Aubres in 1836. They are composed mainly of orthopyroxene to enstatite.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
TARDA is a meteorite that fell in Morocco on August 25, 2020.
This meteorite has been classified as C2 ungrouped, a rare type of very primitive carbonaceous.
Tagish lake is a meteorite of the same type and sells for over 1000 euros per gram.
This meteorite is composed of many very small fragments, beautiful pieces with crusts are rare.
Isotopic analyses show that some pieces have values close to CI chondrites, and other pieces have Yamato (CY) values..
An important meteorite at the scientific level in the years to come.
Classification : (C. Agee, UNM; K. Ziegler, UNM; A. Irving, UWS; L. Garvie, ASU; D. Sheikh, FSU; P. Carpenter, WUSL; H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC; M. Zolensky, JSC; P. Schmitt-Kopplin, HZM) Carbonaceous chondrite (C2-ungrouped). The bulk mineralogy is consistent with a petrologic grade 2, based on the predominance of smectite and serpentine together with the presence of anhydrous mafic silicates, AOA, and chondrules. The oxygen isotopes give a bimodal distribution of the δ18O-values, with one group having values somewhat like those of the CI chondrites, and the other group like values for the Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrites (King et al., 2019). However, Δ17O values are lower than those for CI and CY chondrites, and plot below the TFL. These isotopic values do not overlap with those of any established carbonaceous chondrite group, hence the ungrouped designation.
Specimens : 18.4 g including one polished thin section and one polished thick section at UWB; 21g and one polished thin section at UNM; 7 g provided by A. Aaronson and 6 g provided by J. Redelsperger at FSAC; 20 g at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, Rabat, Morocco provided by A. Aaronson; total 628 g with A. Aaronson (including 99 g, 82.4 g and 52.6 g stones); 540 g with M. Farmer and A. Karl, 260 g with J. Poblador; 480 g with D. Dickens; 145 g with M. Oulkouch; 146 g with J. Redelsperger; 31 g with B. Hoefnagels.
Murchison is a meteorite that fell on September 28, 1969 near the village of Murchison, Australia, about 100 km north of Melbourne.
Following the discovery in 2022 in this meteorite of two organic molecules, cytosine and thymine, entering in the composition of DNA and RNA, the debate of the panspermia is relaunched.
Panspermia is a theory about the origin of life that suggests that the seeding of the Earth would come from germs wandering in the cosmos or brought by meteorites or comets.
Even if about 100 kg have been found, this mythical meteorite is now difficult to find on the market.
The Orcunama meteorite fell in the Philippines in 2011.
It has been classified chondrite type H3-4.
A single stone of 7800 g covered with a dark fusion crust was discovered.
On the clear and sunny morning of March 7, 2011, three farmers (Fredo Manzano, Edgar Francisco Senior and Enrico Camacho Junior) in Orconuma, Bongabonga, Philippines were clearing their field when they were startled by six consecutive loud explosions. The sound of the explosions seemed to last for half a minute. At first they thought it was thunder because the ground was shaking. As they looked up to the sky, they saw a “burning red object with sparks coming out of it”, leaving a thick trail of smoke and making a characteristic hissing sound before it hit the ground. By their own admission, the farmers initially thought it was a bomb and considered that it might be “the end of the world.” They remember that the birds flew away immediately at the sound of the explosions. They went to look, and less than 10 meters away, they found a hole in the ground, surrounded by stirred up dirt and what looked like burnt grass. Inside the hole, about 1 m deep, they saw a stone object and, lacking tools, they used a piece of wood lying nearby and their bare hands to dig it up. Not knowing what this strange stone was, they started asking around, and showing the stone to the locals, but then they were afraid someone would try to take it from them. This fear led them to wrap it in a sealed plastic container before burying it underground for a year. They finally decided that no one would come looking for it, so they dug up the stone and stored it in Fredo Manzano’s closet for the next 8 years. In 2020, they were interviewed for a local TV newscast (later posted on YouTube with over 5 million views), and during the filming, the stone was visually examined by geologist Jocelyn Villanueva, who concluded that it might be a type of basaltic volcanic rock. The farmers, however, remained convinced that it could be a meteorite and hired Ramelle Baquil Ramirez to help them find a buyer. Subsequently in April 2021, with the assistance of an experienced tektite dealer (Carmelita Cepe), the stone was acquired jointly by John Higgins and Jasper Spencer.
