SNC - Mars Rock (shergottite)
North West Africa
This beautiful end piece was delivered to Earth as the result of an asteroid impact on Mars that ejected material off the Martian surface into an Earth-crossing orbit. NWA 8656’s possesses a resplendent desert varnish, (i.e., the glossy exterior surface acquired from exposure to the elements on the desert floor). Interestingly, this meteorite was discovered as a result of meteorite hunters in pursuit of a different meteorite seen to fall in the summer of 2014. Cut interior surfaces are overall greenish-gray with clear, glassy maskelynite evident, and sporadically-distributed dark glass pockets and veinlets. Dr. Anthony Irving is the lead author of the scientific abstract on this meteorite published in the Meteoritical Bulletin.
52 x 41 x 20 mm and 56.1 grams.
Provenance: The Stifler Collection of Meteorites.
