Many lunar surface samples were recovered during the Apollo missions. However, these could only be sampled from sites which were safe for humans and therefore only illustrate a small portion of the Moon’s surface. Lunar meteorites found on Earth offer a much better picture of the composition of the lunar surface, since they originate from many different areas of the Moon. The very first specimen was discovered on 17 January 1982, a decade after the last Apollo mission, and those recovered since have proved invaluable to the understanding of the history and geological evolution of the Moon. These lunar meteorites are extremely rare – when pairing together known specimens coming from the same meteoroid, only about a hundred are known.
Petrography:
(A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Breccia composed of angular mineral grains of anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, exsolved pigeonite, ferroan pigeonite, augite, ilmenite, Ti-chromite and fayalite in a partly vesicular matrix containing minor kamacite and barite.
Geochemistry:
Olivine (Fa26.7-47.2, FeO/MnO = 75-81, N = 2), orthopyroxene (Fs24.1Wo3.6, FeO/MnO = 67), orthopyroxene host (Fs47.1Wo3.3, FeO/MnO = 68), ferroan pigeonite (Fs52.4Wo18.8, FeO/MnO = 67), augite (Fs8.0Wo44.3, FeO/MnO = 35), plagioclase (An96.7-97.4Or0.2-0.1, N = 2).
Published:
Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 107, 2018.
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Dimensions:Height: 3.15 in (8 cm)Diameter: 2.96 in (7.5 cm)
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Materials and Techniques:Stone
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Place of Origin:Algeria
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Period:15th Century and Earlier
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Date of Manufacture:4.5 Billion y/o
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Condition:Excellent
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Seller Location:London, GB
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Reference Number:Seller: 42791Seller: LU1052232663212
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