FROM A FIREBALL THAT DETONATED OVER NIGERIA

On April 19, 2018 a large fireball traveling at a velocity of 13 miles per second (over 75,000 kilometers per hour) exploded over multiple villages in southwestern Nigeria. Numerous stones were recovered and the meteorite was named Aba Panu for t♛he village near the center of the strewn field.

Stony meteorites come in two varieties: chondrites (meteorites with silicate spherules) and achondrites (meteorites whose spherules have melted and are now indiscernible). Older than Earth, Aba Panu is a primitive chondrite (i.e., it only experienced modest heating on its parent body and is largely unchanged from the time it formed). In effect, this complete slice provides a peek into the raw ingredients of our planets as they were beginning to form. 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 ꦗnickel are also dispersed throughout the matrix of both lithologies. This p𒁃rimitive chondrite is offered as an artifact from the formation of our solar system 4.56 billion years ago.  

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