Category：Mineral

Year：1911（found date）

Size:Width:24.5 x Height:20.5 (cm)

Weight:13.4kg

Introduction：If a gift ever fell down from the sky, the meteorite would undoubtedly be it.

Asteroids occasionally collide with other celestial objects and cause fragments fly in every direction. When interplanetary matter comes into contact with the earth's atmosphere, friction causes the matter to ignite and burn up; however, larger pieces of debris sometimes make through the atmosphere without burning up and survive the impact with the earth's surface — they are meteorites.

Meteorites can be compositionally classified into three categories: iron meteorites, stony meteorites, and stony iron meteorites. This iron meteorite is characterized by shallow indentation or pits on its surface, resembling a thumbprint impression in clay. Such “thumbprints” generally occur on the surface of large meteorites and are referred to as “regmaglypts”. They are considered to form from ablation by vortices of hot gases during traveling through the atmosphere. Regmaglypt is one of the main features for identifying meteorites.

Meteorites are typically named after the place in which they are discovered, which are usually the names of nearby towns, cities or unique geographical names. This particular meteorite was found in Mundrabilla of Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia. According to international law, the owner of the land where a meteorite lands is the natural owner of that meteorite, so be sure to check the area around your house and see if you are the next proud owner of the magnificent gift from the sky.

Accession Number:0003719