Credits: Article and images by Martin Green @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/09/22/louis-moinet-cosmopolis-official-guinness-world-record-for-number-of-meteorites-in-a-watch/
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The 12 Meteorites in the Louis Moinet Cosmopolis
1. Lunar meteorite, Dhofar 461
Origin: Moon
Found near Dhofar, Oman
Dhofar 461 is an extremely rare specimen of lunar meteorite, characterized by a white-speckled interior.
There are currently only 300 recorded lunar meteorites, all of which have been ejected from the Moon during the past 20 million years. Most of these were ejected over the past 100,000 years. On their way to Earth, some of them orbited the sun first before entering Earth’s orbit and atmosphere, where they turn into shooting stars. Their lunar origin has been confirmed by rigorous mineralogical comparisons, their chemical isotopic composition, and with samples collected during the Apollo missions to the Moon.
2. Martian meteorite, Dhofar 1674
Origin: Mars
Found near Dhofar, Oman
Dhofar 1674 is one of the rarest Martian meteorites. It has an extremely special greenish texture. Like most meteorites, Dhofar 1674 was found in the desert, where its blackened exterior contrasts sharply with the surrounding sand.To date, fewer than 300 Martian meteorites have been identified worldwide. This meteorite costs more per gram than gold and platinum combined.
Origin: Meteorite shower
Found in Mexico
The Allende is the most studied meteorite in history. In fact, it has been dubbed the “Rosetta Stone” for the wealth of information it has provided on the formation of the solar system. It is estimated to be 4.567 billion years old and thereby the oldest rock in the solar system.
Origin: Asteroid
Found in Algeria
Erg Chech comes from a volcanic rock and is the oldest magmatic rock known to date. It originated from a protoplanet that has since disappeared, and it is older than the Earth itself. After a journey of more than 4 billion years, it landed about a hundred years ago by the luck of orbital attraction in southern Algeria, in the Erg Chech sea of sand, whence its name. Among the 65,000 recorded meteorites in the world, none share its unique composition. It has an especially stunning appearance that combines green and brown hues and a surface look brought about by a lava flow.
Origin: Asteroid
Found in Morocco, in the western Sahara Desert
This mysterious Jbilet Winselwan meteorite contains traces of amino acids, probably the first known traces of life in the cosmos.
Origin: Asteroid
Found in Russia
The Isheyevo meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite containing a beautiful sequence of fine layers.
Louis Moinet Cosmopolis
Origin: Asteroid
Found in China
This meteorite used to be known as Armanty, but is now known under the name Aletai. It is composed of a natural and extraterrestrial mix of iron and nickel. It comes from the heart of an asteroid weighing over one hundred tons.
8. Aguas Zarcas meteorite
Origin: Meteorite shower
Found in Costa Rica
The Arguas Zarcas meteorite is part of a meteorite shower that fell in a rainforest in central Costa Rica on April 23, 2019.
Origin: Asteroid
Found in Namibia
The Gibeon meteorite landed in Namibia in prehistoric times. It was named after the nearest city. It is famous for the distinctive Widmanstätten pattern, which is typical for extraterrestrial ferrous rocks.
10. Toluca meteorite
Origin: Asteroid
Found in Mexico
This meteorite probably struck Earth over ten millennia ago. For centuries, Mexicans living near meteorites have used them as a source of metal for various tools. The Toluca meteorite fragments were discovered by the conquistadores in 1776.
Origin: Asteroid
Found in the Sahara Desert
This extremely rare Enstatite EH3 meteorite features microdiamonds of interstellar origin. They are formed in the heart of stars that exploded and became supernova.
12. Black L5 chondrite meteorite
Origin: Asteroid
Found in the Sahara Desert
This black chondrite is a highly shocked meteorite, the result of a gigantic impact in space between two asteroids. Chondrites are considered the first elements that go on to become planets.
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Credits: Article and images by Martin Green @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/09/22/louis-moinet-cosmopolis-official-guinness-world-record-for-number-of-meteorites-in-a-watch/
