Aba Panu — A Galaxy of Chondrules Older Than Earth

A sample of one of Earth’s most recent visitors. On April 19, 2018 a large fireball detonated over southwestern Nigeria approximately 100 miles north of Lagos near the village of Abu Panu. This meteorite is a primitive chondrite, which is to say it was not exposed to undue amounts of heat and pressure and is largely unchanged from the time it formed; in effect, what is seen here approximates the raw ingredients of our solar system.

Chondrules were molten droplets of silicates in space that accreted together with some free metals to form the first asteroids 4550 million years ago. They are older than the Earth. The cut surface is also embellished by gleaming metal dispersed throughout.

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.

1,842g and 5” x 4” x 3.7”
An artifact in the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.