Complete Slice Of An Aesthetic Aba Panu Meteorite

Meteorites with broadly segmented lithologies are uncommon and intrigue — and select specimens of Aba Panu are one such example. Just prior to hitting Earth’s atmosphere, on April 19, 2018 a large fireball was traveling at a cosmic velocity of nearly 13 miles/second (nearly 75,000 kilometers/hour) before exploding over multiple villages in southwestern Nigeria. Numerous stones were recovered and the meteorite was named Aba Panu for the village near the center of the strewn field.

Stone meteorites come in two varieties, chondrites (meteorites with silicate spherules) and achondrites (meteorites whose spherules melted and are indiscernable). Older than Earth, Aba Panu is a primitive chondrite (i.e., it only experienced modest heating on its parent body and as a result its largely unchanged from the time it first formed). In effect, this complete slice provides a peek at the raw ingredients of our planets; the sugar, flour, butter, etc. before having been blended and “baked”. Among the types of chondrules in evidence are barred olivine chondrules (where parallel olivine bars can be seen within the spherule) and aggregates of mini-chondrules. Achondritic clasts and fine metallic flakes primarily composed of iron and nickel are also dispersed throughout the matrix of both lithologies. In a slice that appears to be a primitive rendering, now offered is an artifact from the formation of our solar system 4.56 billion years ago.