Hammadah al Hamra 346 Meteorite
Hammadah al Hamra 346 Meteorite
Sometimes known as Ghadamis, this meteorite was found in the Jabal al Gharbi District of Libya. It is possibly part of a meteorite fall witnessed on 26 August 2018, but this is not confirmed.A large fireball was seen in 2018 over a sparsely populated region of northwest Libya. In 2019, hundreds of meteorites were discovered in the area, scattered over several kilometres. More than 100 kilograms was recovered in total. The fresh fusion crust on the outside of the meteorites suggests that they had fallen relatively recently.
The thin, black outer layer – known as fusion crust – forms during a meteorite’s fiery descent through the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteorite’s surface becomes so hot that it melts, before rapidly cooling to form the glassy fusion crust.
More information
Object number
2025-120
Location
Our Solar System Gallery
Has this object been into space?
Yes
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Length: 14.5cm
Height: 5.5cm
Depth: 8.5cm
Material
Plagioclase
Chromite
Merrillite
Troilite
Taenite
Iron-Nickel Alloy (Meteoric Iron)
Kamacite
Pyroxene
Olivine
Materials & techniques note
L6 Ordinary chondrite
Associated Place
Libya
Gharyan
Jabal al Gharbi
On Display Status
On display
Copyright and Photos
Photography is shared via the license below.
However, some objects on this website are on loan to the National Space Centre and are being shared through the permission of their owners.
Commercial use of images from this website is not allowed without additional permissions being granted. To request permission to use images for purposes not covered in the license below, please contact info@spacecentre.co.uk
Individual objects on loan to the National Space Centre may have additional copyright permissions, so advice should always be sought before use.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
