FINE STONE METEORITE SPHERE
NWA 869 - L3-6 (fragmental breccia)
Sahara Desert, Algeria
Meteorites are typically named for the nearest city, county, or geological feature in proximity to where they have landed. The vastness of the Sahara Desert, and the abundance of meteorites to be found there, mean that for these specimens a numbering system is used. This is an example of the 869th meteorite classified following its recovery in the northwest African grid of the Sahara in 2000. Fortunately, hundreds of kilograms of NWA 869 have been recovered, otherwise one would never risk the large amount of material lost in fashioning such a sphere. It makes for an uncommonly beautiful objet, the creamy chocolate brown surface aesthetically speckled with sparkling iron-nickel inclusions, 2 inches in diameter and weighing approximately 286.1g.