Al Haggounia 001 174.1g

Description

Al Haggounia 001 was first discovered in Western Sahara in 2005 near Al Haggounia. Portions of the meteorite were excavated from beneath a sabkha lake and several pieces were found embedded in terrestrial rock. Scientists estimate the meteorite fell in the Late Quaternary period, which makes it a “fossil” or “paleo” meteorite.

There’s been some debate over the classification of Al Haggounia; in 2016, the meteorite was reclassified by Dr. Alan Rubin of the University of California, Los Angeles as an ancient EL-melt rock. Al Haggounia is an enstatite chondrite, a rare type of meteorite that, according to spectral analysis, could have come from asteroid 16 Psyche. They lack significant oxygen content, which suggests enstatites could have formed near the center of the solar nebula that created our solar system.

Low in iron, these specimens are distinguished by their large chondrules and variety of weathering stages. Some Al Haggounia pieces are dark brown in color and sport beige veins of clay, while specimens that have experienced less weathering are bluish-grey in color.