Gujba is a bencubbinite, an extremely exotic meteorite class and is the only witnessed bencubbinite fall. The local people of Bogga Dingare witnessed this 1984 fall and hammered most of it into little pieces.
Gujba contains large metal and silicate spherical nodules with variable amounts of troilite and CAIs (calcium aluminum inclusions) which are among the first materials to have condensed out of the gaseous nebula from which our planets formed 4.6 billion years ago.
From a scientific abstract appearing in Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII (2002) entitled Gujba and the Origin of Bencubbin-like (CB) Meteorites:
“The extraordinary characteristics of CB meteorites greatly extend the range of known primitive materials. However, their origin and significance have generated much controversy. Are they highly primitive nebular materials containing metal that condensed directly from the nascent nebular gas, or did they form in a vapor cloud produced during an impact event on a chondritic planetesimal (a primitive planet)?”
The authors, esteemed scientists at the American Museum of Natural History concluded: “The high abundance of completely spherical chondrules and the presence of CAIs in Gujba are characteristics similar to those of other chondrites thought to have formed in the nebula, making impact models less probable. However, the high pressures required for the condensation of siderophile (iron-loving) elements into metal cannot be easily explained by nebular models….” And so, a mystery of origin continues for this artifact from the creation of our solar system – and among the most beautiful meteorites known.
“This is a type of chondrite, related to the carbonaceous chondrites, but with chondrules of metal! Very little is known about them and Gujba. This is without a doubt the strangest meteorite I have ever seen.” — Michael Farmer
Gujba is 1 of 7 approved meteorites classified as CBa, a carbonaceous chondrite of the Bencubbinite-like (CB) group, and subtype “a” contains large chondrule-like objects). Found in Yobe, Nigeria in 1984 (11°29’30N, 11°39’30E)
3.05″ x 2.25″ x .38″ and 98g
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