Lahmada 020 lunar meteorite 224 mg

Lahmada 020 lunar meteorite

This is an authentic fragment of Lahmada 020, a lunar meteorite found in the Western Sahara in 2018. Lunar meteorites are formed when an impact on the moon hurls rock into space. A small portion of this eventually crosses Earth's orbit and lands on our planet as a meteorite.

A piece of the moon

Lahmada 020 is classified as Lunar feldspathic breccia. Breccia is rock composed of various fragments that have been reconnected by impacts and pressure. This is precisely what makes lunar meteorites so interesting: they tell us something about the rugged impact history of the lunar surface.

For collectors

A lunar meteorite remains one of the most appealing types of meteorites to collect. This small fragment of Lahmada 020 comes in the collector's box shown and is a beautiful piece for anyone who wants to add a tangible piece of the moon to their collection.

What is a meteorite?

A meteorite begins as a meteoroid: a small piece of rock or metal moving through space. As soon as such an object enters the Earth's atmosphere, compression and heating of the air create a bright light phenomenon that we call a meteor or fireball. Only the part that survives this passage and actually reaches the ground is called a meteorite. During flight, a dark, thin molten crust often forms on the outside. Many meteorites break apart into multiple pieces along the way, creating a so-called strewn field. The speed upon entry is often many kilometers per second higher than the final speed upon impact at the Earth's surface, because the atmosphere strongly slows the object down.

Classification and origin

Meteorites are classified based on their composition and internal structure. Most discovered meteorites are chondrites: stony meteorites with small spherical inclusions, known as chondrules, which belong to the oldest solid material from the early solar system. In addition, there are achondrites, which lack these chondrules and originate from celestial bodies where geological processes such as melting and crystallization have already taken place. Examples of these are eucrites from the HED group, which are associated with the asteroid Vesta. The letters and numbers in classifications such as H6, L5-6, or LL4 provide information about, among other things, the iron content and the degree of thermal change in the parent material. As a result, a classification reveals something not only about the type of meteorite but also about its geological history.

Box dimensions

This meteorite comes in a transparent acrylic display box measuring 5.5 x 3.5 cm.