PARTIAL SLICE OF THE MOON - FIRST PUBLIC OFFERING OF NWA 8306. Lunar Feldspathic Breccia - Achondrite (LUN). Sahara De...

Description

PARTIAL SLICE OF THE MOON - FIRST PUBLIC OFFERING OF NWA 8306
Lunar Feldspathic Breccia - Achondrite (LUN)
Sahara Desert, North West Africa

A partial slice of a Lunar meteorite - which is to say a chunk of the Moon which was launched off the Lunar surface following an asteroid impact and later landed on Earth. Specimens of the Moon are among the most exotic objects on Earth, and this is the first public offering of this particular meteorite. Recently sanctioned by the Meteoritical Society's Nomenclature Committee (a committee of international scientists), NWA 8306 is the 8306th meteorite to be recovered from the North West African grid of the Sahara Desert and then analyzed. Lunar samples are readily identified by their highly specific geological, mineralogical, chemical and radiation signatures. The minerals comprising the Moon's crust are limited and the most common of Earth's minerals are not found on the Moon. Lunar specimens contain gases originating from the solar wind with isotope ratios that are markedly different than the same gases found on Earth. Many samples are also perfect matches with the material recovered by Apollo astronauts. NWA 8306 is a feldspathic breccia, rich with angular fragments of anorthosite. Solar wind vesicles, Iron-rich pyroxenes and Olivines have also been identified. Less than 0.1 percent of all meteorites recovered are Lunar in origin; less than 200 pounds of meteorites originating from the Moon are known to exist. This is a highly select partial slice of the Moon.
Overall Measurements: 2.25 x 1.5 x 0.1 inches (55 x 39 x 1 mm), weighs 8.88 gm (0.31 oz.)

Provenance: The Macovich Collection

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