Stony Meteorites

A large enstatite chondrite that fell in 1952 — a rare, highly reduced meteorite type thought to have formed in the innermost, oxygen-poor part of the solar nebula.

A CM2 carbonaceous chondrite that fell in 2019, rapidly recovered and rich in organic compounds — sometimes called a 'second Murchison'.

A Martian meteorite recovered from Antarctica in 1984 and made famous in 1996 by a disputed claim that microscopic structures within it might be evidence of ancient Martian microbial life.

The first meteorite recognised as a piece of the Moon, recovered from Antarctica in 1982 — its match to Apollo samples proved that lunar rocks can be delivered to Earth as meteorites.

The largest carbonaceous chondrite found on Earth, which fell in 1969 and became the most-studied meteorite in history — its calcium–aluminium inclusions are among the oldest solid material in the Solar System.

The recovered stones from the 2013 Chelyabinsk airburst, an ordinary chondrite whose spectacular entry — filmed by countless dashcams — was the most damaging meteor event in modern history.

A eucrite whose fall was witnessed in October 1960 (the stones recovered in the following years) — one of the HED meteorites, basaltic rocks blasted from the surface of the asteroid Vesta, whose spectra they match.

A carbonaceous chondrite that fell in 1969 and was found to contain a rich suite of amino acids and other organic compounds — key evidence that the building blocks of life exist in space.

Nicknamed 'Black Beauty', a Martian breccia containing the most water of any Mars meteorite and some of the oldest Martian crust yet sampled.

A rare, extremely primitive CI carbonaceous chondrite whose composition closely matches that of the Sun — a benchmark for the bulk composition of the Solar System.

An ordinary chondrite whose 1992 fall was videotaped as a brilliant fireball across the eastern United States before it struck and damaged a parked car in Peekskill, New York.

An exceptionally pristine carbonaceous meteorite recovered frozen from a lake in 2000, preserving organic material with minimal terrestrial contamination.

A carbonaceous chondrite whose 2021 fall was captured by camera networks, allowing its orbit to be traced and the sample to be recovered within days — one of the most pristine falls ever studied.