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On April 19, 2018, a flash of light and deafening roar startled the residents of Southwestern Nigeria. There were initial fears of an earthquaker, but NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) recorded the event: a 0.23 kiloton airburst of an inbound asteroid. Photos released by the Oyo state government showed a large meteorite embedded in the ground, and a tree struck by one of the stones.

Aba Panu is a moderately shocked L-chondrite, which spall their surfaces during the rapid inbound atmospheric heating instead of ablating and forming a black fusion crust (like most meteorites).

As a fresh fall, it has a weathering grade of W0. Very few shock veins inside. 1,842g and 5” x 4” x 3.7”

When I visited the meteorite mecca at ASU, I asked Lawrence Garvie: of the huge array of meteorites here in the collection, which is your favorite? “Aba Panu” he replied, without hesitation. He did the geochemistry analysis for the MetBull entry.

An artifact in the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.

One response to “Aba Panu — A Fresh Fall Meteorite Lacking Fusion Crust”

  1. zooming in on the metal nodules visible on the exterior Interior face. Abundant chondrules are seen of all chondrule types. Many armored chondrules are also found. Here’s a macro of an armored chondrule in incident light: and in reflected light, showing the layered armoring: from Meteorite Gallery

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