THE FALL OF THE NOGATA, JAPAN, STONY METEORITE

Name: NOGATA

Place of fall: Nogata city, Fukuoka prefecture, Japan.

33°46'N., 130°42'E.

Date of fall: May 19, 861, at night.

Class and type: Stone. Olivine-hypersthene chondrite, amphoterite (LL) Olivine Fa27, orthopyroxene Fs22.

Number of individual

specimens: 1

Total weight: 472 g.

Circumstances of fall: After detonations and a brilliant flash at night, a stone fell which was recovered the following morning by villagers from a hole in the ground. The stone has been preserved since its fall in the Shinto shrine of Suga Jinja, and the date of fall (April 7 in the third year of Jogan, i.e. May 19, 861 in the Julian calendar) is written on the wooden box containing the stone. However, the script is of a later date than 861, as is the box.

Source: S. Murayama, letter of 13 June, 1980. See also M. Shima et al., 1980. Petrography, mineralogy and chemical composition on the chondrite Nogata, Nogata-shi, Fukuoda-ken, Japan. Abs. 1980 Meteoritical Society Meeting.