Class: Howardite
Found: Morocco 2004
Howardites, along with Eucrites and Diogenites, are rocks that have clearly been identified as coming from the asteroid 4 Vesta. Howardites have characteristics similar to both Eucrites and Diogenites, indicating that they are composed of weathered rocks or fragments resulting from many collisions.
Howardites are formed from the soil of the parent body.
Class: Diogenite
Found: Tunisia in 1931
Diogenites are rare; less than 100 specimens exist worldwide. They are closely related to Eucrites in that they also originated from the asteroid Vesta - but they are very diferent. This specimen has very little calcium and huge crystals - some nearly an inch long. These crystals must have cooled slowly, indicating that they probably formed at the bottom of a magma chamber on the parent body.
Class: Eucrite
Found: Australia 1970
(fall observed 1960)
Eucrites are the most common class of achondrites. Their analogy on Earth is basalt, meaning they are cooled lava. The quick cooling means that they have smaller crystals.
Millbillillie contains large amounts of calcium, giving it a whitish appearance.
Achondrite means "without chondrules". They formed from a melting and recrystallization process on a chondritic parent body.
Class: Olivine Diogenite
Found: Morocco / Algeria in 2004
Olivine Diogenites are perhaps the rarest type of meteorite. They differ from regular Diogenites in that they formed deeper down in the parent body - near the upper crust boundary.
Note: All meteorite photographs include a 1 cm scaling cube for sizing reference. Click on the image to expand.
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