Moon dust from Hupe collection
From the famous Hupe meteorite collection. Purchased on eBay March 4, 2017. 1 oz.
About This World Record Setting Meteorite From The Moon:
Northwest Africa 5000 is the largest meteorite from the ancient Lunar Highlands ever found. Originally weighing in at 25 lbs 6.6 ounces (11,528 grams), it was massive. Although the weight is very impressive, its presence is tremendous.
When trying to portray Northwest Africa 5000, one may be at a loss for words -- it is simply too beautiful to properly describe. It is the most handsome meteorite from the moon ever found -- the contrast is incredible. The matrix looks like a black and white intaglio print of the universe rendered by a spirited yet masterful artist.
This stone contains breccias within breccias, and the preferential orientation of clasts lends a unique 3-D appearance to flat surfaces. Generous amounts of shiny metal are present in almost every piece, adding yet another impressive element to nature’s artwork.
Northwest Africa 5000 is by far the most spectacular meteorite from the Moon, and has become legendary, establishing new benchmarks for excellence!
From the eBay website:
Northwest Africa 5000 is not only from the Moon, it actually takes on the appearance of our nearest celestial neighbor unlike any other lunar meteorite in existence. There can only be one, number one and Northwest Africa 5000 is it.
This celestial masterpiece lay undisturbed for millennia in the world’s largest and hottest desert, the Sahara, until it was liberated by some very fortunate hunters of treasure in July of 2007. After lengthy, emotional and expensive negotiations, it was acquired by The Hupe Planetary Collection in October of the same year.
Northwest Africa 5000
Morocco
Find: July 2007
Achondrite (lunar, feldspathic breccia)
History: Found in July 2007 in southern Morocco and provided to Adam Hupé in October 2007.
Physical characteristics: A single, large cuboidal stone (11.528 kg) with approximate dimensions 27 cm × 24 cm × 20 cm. One side (which appears to have been embedded downward in light brown mud) has preserved regmaglypts and is partially covered by translucent, pale greenish fusion crust with fine contraction cracks.
Abundant large beige to white, coarse-grained clasts up to 8 cm across (some of which have been eroded out on exterior surfaces of the stone, likely by eolian sand blasting) and sparse black, vitreous clasts up to 2 cm across (containing irregular small white inclusions) are set in a dark gray to black, partially glassy breccia matrix.
One partially eroded clast exposed on an exterior surface contains both the coarse grained beige lithology and the more resistant black, vitreous lithology in sharp contact.
Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Almost monomict fragmental breccia dominated by Mg-suite olivine gabbro clasts consisting predominantly of coarse-grained (0.5-2 mm) calcic plagioclase, pigeonite (some with fine exsolution lamellae), and olivine with accessory merrillite, Mg-bearing ilmenite, Ti-bearing chromite, baddeleyite, rare zirconolite, silica polymorph, K-feldspar, kamacite, and troilite.
Some gabbro clasts have shock injection veins composed mostly of glass containing myriad fine troilite blebs and engulfed mineral fragments. Black, vitreous impact melt clasts consist of sporadic, small angular fragments (apparently surviving relics) of gabbro and related mineral phases in a very fine grained, non-vesicular, ophitic-textured matrix of pigeonite laths (up to 20 microns long × 2 microns wide) and interstitial plagioclase with tiny spherical grains of kamacite, irregular grains of schreibersite and rare troilite.
Geochemistry: Gabbro clasts: plagioclase (An96.1-98.0Or<0.1), pigeonite (Fs32.0-64.5Wo6.7-13.1; FeO/MnO = 51.1-62.0), olivine in different clasts range from Fa23.9-24.2, Fa40.4 to Fa58.8 (with FeO/MnO = 81-100), chromite [(Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.737, Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.231, TiO2 = 5.9 wt%], ilmenite (4.1 wt% MgO). Bulk composition: (R. Korotev, WUSL) INAA of 6 subsamples gave mean values of 5.3 wt% FeO and 0.4 ppm Th.
Classification: Achondrite (lunar, feldspathic breccia). Specimens: A total of 40.2 g of sample, two polished mounts and one large polished thin section are on deposit at UWS. AHupé hold the main mass.
Submitted by: A. Irving, UWS.
Moon dust from Hupe collection
From the famous Hupe meteorite collection. Purchased on eBay March 4, 2017. 1 oz.
About This World Record Setting Meteorite From The Moon:
Northwest Africa 5000 is the largest meteorite from the ancient Lunar Highlands ever found. Originally weighing in at 25 lbs 6.6 ounces (11,528 grams), it was massive. Although the weight is very impressive, its presence is tremendous.
When trying to portray Northwest Africa 5000, one may be at a loss for words -- it is simply too beautiful to properly describe. It is the most handsome meteorite from the moon ever found -- the contrast is incredible. The matrix looks like a black and white intaglio print of the universe rendered by a spirited yet masterful artist.
This stone contains breccias within breccias, and the preferential orientation of clasts lends a unique 3-D appearance to flat surfaces. Generous amounts of shiny metal are present in almost every piece, adding yet another impressive element to nature’s artwork.
Northwest Africa 5000 is by far the most spectacular meteorite from the Moon, and has become legendary, establishing new benchmarks for excellence!
From the eBay website:
Northwest Africa 5000 is not only from the Moon, it actually takes on the appearance of our nearest celestial neighbor unlike any other lunar meteorite in existence. There can only be one, number one and Northwest Africa 5000 is it.
This celestial masterpiece lay undisturbed for millennia in the world’s largest and hottest desert, the Sahara, until it was liberated by some very fortunate hunters of treasure in July of 2007. After lengthy, emotional and expensive negotiations, it was acquired by The Hupe Planetary Collection in October of the same year.
Northwest Africa 5000
Morocco
Find: July 2007
Achondrite (lunar, feldspathic breccia)
History: Found in July 2007 in southern Morocco and provided to Adam Hupé in October 2007.
Physical characteristics: A single, large cuboidal stone (11.528 kg) with approximate dimensions 27 cm × 24 cm × 20 cm. One side (which appears to have been embedded downward in light brown mud) has preserved regmaglypts and is partially covered by translucent, pale greenish fusion crust with fine contraction cracks.
Abundant large beige to white, coarse-grained clasts up to 8 cm across (some of which have been eroded out on exterior surfaces of the stone, likely by eolian sand blasting) and sparse black, vitreous clasts up to 2 cm across (containing irregular small white inclusions) are set in a dark gray to black, partially glassy breccia matrix.
One partially eroded clast exposed on an exterior surface contains both the coarse grained beige lithology and the more resistant black, vitreous lithology in sharp contact.
Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Almost monomict fragmental breccia dominated by Mg-suite olivine gabbro clasts consisting predominantly of coarse-grained (0.5-2 mm) calcic plagioclase, pigeonite (some with fine exsolution lamellae), and olivine with accessory merrillite, Mg-bearing ilmenite, Ti-bearing chromite, baddeleyite, rare zirconolite, silica polymorph, K-feldspar, kamacite, and troilite.
Some gabbro clasts have shock injection veins composed mostly of glass containing myriad fine troilite blebs and engulfed mineral fragments. Black, vitreous impact melt clasts consist of sporadic, small angular fragments (apparently surviving relics) of gabbro and related mineral phases in a very fine grained, non-vesicular, ophitic-textured matrix of pigeonite laths (up to 20 microns long × 2 microns wide) and interstitial plagioclase with tiny spherical grains of kamacite, irregular grains of schreibersite and rare troilite.
Geochemistry: Gabbro clasts: plagioclase (An96.1-98.0Or<0.1), pigeonite (Fs32.0-64.5Wo6.7-13.1; FeO/MnO = 51.1-62.0), olivine in different clasts range from Fa23.9-24.2, Fa40.4 to Fa58.8 (with FeO/MnO = 81-100), chromite [(Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.737, Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.231, TiO2 = 5.9 wt%], ilmenite (4.1 wt% MgO). Bulk composition: (R. Korotev, WUSL) INAA of 6 subsamples gave mean values of 5.3 wt% FeO and 0.4 ppm Th.
Classification: Achondrite (lunar, feldspathic breccia). Specimens: A total of 40.2 g of sample, two polished mounts and one large polished thin section are on deposit at UWS. AHupé hold the main mass.
Submitted by: A. Irving, UWS.