Basalt Crust of Asteroid 4 Vesta

A large slice of extra-terrestrial basalt, Dhofar 007, most likely from deep in the crust of 4 Vesta: the only large asteroid with a basaltic crust.

“Cumulate eucrites are rare types with oriented crystals, thought to have solidified in magma chambers deep within Vesta’s crust.” — Wikipedia.

It has a thin fusion crust (the burn from entering Earth’s atmosphere at a speed > Mach 32) that circles the slice and an interesting pattern in tan, gray and white of veins and crystallites. Age determinations of this material yield formation dates that cluster around 4.56 Ga. This is very close to the 4.567 Ga age of the chondrules that are part of Allende Carbonaceous Chondrites: absolutely the oldest thing you can touch. In short, this slice is one of the oldest things in our Solar System and unlike Allende, it didn’t just incorporate something old; it is old – all of it.

A RARE EUCRITE METEORITE: DHOFAR 007
Eucrite-cm (a cumulate eucrite)
Dhofar, Oman (18° 20′ 6″N, 54° 10′ 54″E)
Found: 1999

Overall Measurements: 6.25 x 4.09 x 0.18 inches (15.88 x 10.38 x 0.46 cm), weighs 128 gm (4.52 ozs.)