NWA 869 Meteorite - Cut and Polished
NWA 869 Meteorite - Cut and Polished
This NWA 869 meteorite is part of a large fall of meteorites that have been recovered from North West Africa. NWA 869 pieces first started showing up in 1999 from the Algerian desert at Tindouf. As with many meteorites found in North West Africa, the exact location of their discovery is a mystery - leading to them being named as NWA (North West Africa).This Stony meteorite is an Ordinary Chondrite. It has been cut open and polished to show the chondrules inside - small round mineral grains. This particular sample also has some rare 'armoured' chondrules, where the chondrule has been surrounded by iron-nickel alloy. Chondrules are believed to be the building blocks of the Solar System. They formed as molten droplets in space, before joining together with other materials to form larger objects like asteroids. Chondrules are some of the oldest solid material in the Solar System, and when they are present in a meteorite like this one, we know that they have not melted since they were first formed. This means that they have not changed for 4.55 billion years - making them older than Planet Earth.
Over one and a half tons of NWA 869 meteorite has been collected since 1999. It is not known how long ago the meteorites fell to Earth.
All images:
-
![NWA 869 Meteorite sample]()
NWA 869 Meteorite sample -
![NWA 869 Meteorite sample]()
NWA 869 Meteorite sample -
![NWA 869 Meteorite sample]()
NWA 869 Meteorite sample -
![NWA 869 Meteorite sample - cut open and polished to reveal the chondrules inside]()
NWA 869 Meteorite sample - cut open and polished to reveal the chondrules inside -
![Close-up view of NWA 869 Meteorite sample - revealing the chondrules and the rare armoured chondrules]()
Close-up view of NWA 869 Meteorite sample - revealing the chondrules and the rare armoured chondrules -
![Close-up view of NWA 869 Meteorite sample - revealing the chondrules and the rare armoured chondrules]()
Close-up view of NWA 869 Meteorite sample - revealing the chondrules and the rare armoured chondrules
Audio
Meteorites and Fusion Crust
More information
Object number
H2002-8
Location
Handling Collection
Curator's comments
In the audio clip you can hear our curator explaining the fusion crust that is often found on Stony meteorites
Has this object been into space?
Yes
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Length: 12cm
Width: 9.5cm
Height: 2.7cm
Weight: 396g
Material
Chondrules
Breccia
Olivine
Feldspar
Iron-Nickel Alloy (Meteoric Iron)
Troilite
Materials & techniques note
Stony meteorite
Associated Place
Algeria
On Display Status
Handling collection
Copyright and Photos
Photography is shared via the license below.
However, some objects on this website are on loan to the National Space Centre and are being shared through the permission of their owners.
Commercial use of images from this website is not allowed without additional permissions being granted. To request permission to use images for purposes not covered in the license below, please contact [email protected]
Individual objects on loan to the National Space Centre may have additional copyright permissions, so advice should always be sought before use.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
