Endcut of Chwichiya 002, a rare C3.00-ungrouped, and potentially CT3 as it is a member of the recently proposed CT Group

TLDR; it’s a pristine time capsule from before the Earth formed… and with embedded pre-solar grains (remnants of a solar system older than ours by a few billion years that went supernova).

The MetBull describes this primitive Carbonaceous Chondrite as having a “dark porous interior with chondrules” larger than those in CM2 and “this meteorite appears to be less heated than the least heated type 3 ordinary chondrite” which I take to mean it is the least metamorphosed of the chondrites, primitive and pristine. It has not undergone aqueous alteration or heating before its expulsion from the parent body.

So, I decided to take some macro zoom shots of the little fella, just 5g. With a Canon 5D Mark IV, I used the 100mm Macro Zoom lens, which is much easier for a quick shot vs. the 65mm 1-5x Macro lens. The later requires tripod and substantial added lighting whereas these shots were hand-held in ambient light, thanks to the image-stabilizing lens.

Chwichiya was discovered in Morocco in 2018 in the Western Sahara near the village of Haouza in a concentration area called Chwichiya.

Research:
• Univ of Arizona discovered two areas with isotopic anomalies (probably organic) on a sample in NanoSIMS images, as well as six potential presolar grains.

•Analyses conducted by Aix Marseille Univ and others in France indicate a possible relationship between Chwichiya 002 and the samples returned from Ryugu by Hayabusa2, and the ones that will be returned from Bennu by OSIRIS-REx in 2023.

• Proposal to form a new CT Group and discussion.