GUJBA - COMPLETE SLICE OF A SINGULARLY BEAUTIFUL AND MYSTERIOUS METEORITE . CB - Bencubbinite. Yobe, Nigeria. ...

Description

GUJBA - COMPLETE SLICE OF A SINGULARLY BEAUTIFUL AND MYSTERIOUS METEORITE
CB - Bencubbinite
Yobe, Nigeria


On April 3, 1984, a meteorite shower occurred in northeastern Nigeria following a bright fireball and explosion. Gujba is a bencubbinite, an extremely exotic meteorite class-and Gujba is the only witnessed bencubbinite fall. For many meteorite specialists, Gujba is one of the most beautiful meteorites on record. Gujba contains large metal and silicate nodules with variable amounts of troilite and CAIs (calcium aluminum inclusions)-which are among the first materials to have condensed out of the gaseous nebula from which our planets formed. In a scientific abstract appearing in Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII (2002) entitled, Gujba and the Origin of Bencubbin-like (CB) Meteorites, it was written:

"The extraordinary characteristics of (CB meteorites) greatly extend the range of known primitive materials. However, their origin and significance have generated much controversy. Are they highly primitive nebular materials containing metal that condensed directly from the nascent nebular gas, or did they form in a vapor cloud produced during an impact event on a chondritic planetesimal (a primitive planet)?"

The authors, esteemed scientists at the American Museum of Natural History concluded, "The high abundance of completely spherical chondrules and the presence of CAIs in Gujba are characteristics similar to those of other chondrites thought to have formed in the nebula, making impact models less probable. However, the high pressures required for the condensation of siderophile (iron-loving) elements into metal cannot be easily explained by nebular models...." And so, a mystery of origin continues, and now offered is an artifact from the creation of our solar system - and among the most beautiful meteorites known.
It measures 4.25 x 3.25 x 0.1 inches (109 x 83 x 2 mm) and weighs 56.17 grams.

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