Meteorites and Their Properties


Allende Image

A fragment of the Allende meteorite

Allende slab

Allende is a carbonaceous chondrite which fell in Chihuahua, Mexico. Most of the light-gray objects visible in this sawn slab are millimeter-sized chondrules, while the larger white objects are refractory inclusions; both are embedded in black matrix material. This primitive chondrite fell just a few months before the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon, providing a unique opportunity for scientists to test many of the analytical techniques that they had developed to study the lunar samples.


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