Gao-Guenie
£275
The Robert Elliott Meteorite Collection
Auction: 18 August 2009 at 15:00 BST
Description
Many small individuals
Dimensions
1kg total
Footnote
Gao-Guenie (Burkina Faso) H5 (stone) - fell 5th March 1960
The inhabitants of Gao, a village of Burkina Faso in Western Africa, witnessed this meteorite fall. Several pieces fell through the roofs of the villager's huts. During flight through Earth's atmosphere, the intense heat and pressure ripped the meteorite apart into many fragments, and these were scattered over a large area. After fragmenting, each piece continued to 'burn' during flight, developing a thin, black oxide skin on the exterior, very typical of stony meteorites and known to scientists as 'fusion crust'.