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, 2ꦕ018 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 t♋he 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.