Plainview Meteorite (1917) BM1959,807
Plainview Meteorite (1917) BM1959,807
This Plainview meteorite was found near Plainview in Hale County, Texas, in the USA. It is one sample of a type of meteorite first discovered in the area in 1917.After the initial discovery, meteorite hunters scoured the area looking for more samples. Further meteorites were uncovered in 1933, with several hundred more kilograms discovered in the years that followed. More was found in 1950, but these samples proved to originate from a different meteorite event - hence Plainview meteorites became classified with either 1917 or 1950 added to the name to determine which meteorite event they came from. Plainview 1917 meteorites like this one, are believed to have come from an asteroid collision that happened in between Mars and Jupiter less than 10 million years ago. This collision caused smaller fragments, known as meteoroids, into a collision course with Earth - eventually falling to the ground as meteorites.
This meteorite has been cut open and polished to show the chondrules inside. Chondrules are the building blocks of the Solar System. They form as molten droplets in space, before joining together with other material 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.
Audio
Meteorites and Fusion Crust
More information
Object number
L2001-56
Location
Our Solar System Gallery
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
Width: 100mm
Height: 25mm
Length: 120mm
Weight: 595g
Material
Olivine
Iron-Nickel Alloy (Meteoric Iron)
Chondrules
Plagioclase Feldspar
Troilite
Orthopyroxene
Clinopyroxene
Materials & techniques note
Stony meteorite - partially crusted piece with cut & polished surface. H5 chondrite
Associated Place
Texas
Hale County
United States
Credit Line
Specimen on loan courtesy of the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
On Display Status
On display
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