Rocks from Space Picture of the Day May 31, 2008
A first look at a beautiful polished section of NWA 4936 (Provisional), a new lunar from the Sikssou Mountain area of the Gueltat Zemmour in Western Sahara, TKW 179 grams. Two stones, 72 grams and 107 grams were purchased by Jack Schrader in September 2007. This view is of the cut face of the 72 gram stone pictured here: http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/stones/nwa4936.htm. Under magnification, each of the melt veins in this lunar meteorite display many tiny vesicles. This meteorite has been classified as an Achondrite (lunar, feldspathic impact-melt breccia) at the University of Washington (see: http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/moon_meteorites_list_alumina.htm ) and is an important new lunar find as it is the “first lunar which could pass for a sample of regolith from Apollo 16”. Complete details of the classification by UW will be available in the next Meteoritical Bulletin.
© Jack Schrader
Author & editor:
Michael Johnson
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