On October 27, 1999, local farmers and residents saw a bright fireball streak across the sky and explode over the villages of Bilanga-Yanga in Burkina Faso. The detonation was followed by a shower of stones across a wide area. The fresh meteorites had a dark black crust and a light-colored interior that was very metal poor. Several specimens were recovered and they were classified as a diogenite achondrite from asteroid 4 Vesta.
The specimens being offered here are very small and fresh fragments of Bilanga. Some have crust and are darker colored like the example in the photo. Others come from the interior of the meteorite and are light/whitish in color. Your specimen will be one or the other.
Refer to the photo. The black centimeter cube is shown for scale and is not included. You are purchasing a single small fragment like the one shown. Your purchase will include a labeled gemjar for safe storage.
From the Meteoritical Bulletin entry on Bilanga :
Bilanga
Bilanga, Burkina-Faso
Fell 1999 October 27, 10:30 local time
Achondrite (diogenite)
After a widely witnessed shower, at least 25 kg of meteorites with fresh black fusion crust were collected, comprising many stones. Pieces are reported to have fallen in the villages of Bilanga-Yanga and Gomponsago (coordinates above apply to the latter). Classification and mineralogy (A. Bischoff, Mün): a diogenitic breccia; Ca-poor pyroxene, Fs19–22, mean Fs20.5; plagioclase, An75–83; Ca-rich pyroxene is rare, one grain has En46.4Fs6.3Wo47.4. Oxygen isotopes (R. Clayton, UChi): δ18O = +3.41‰, δ17O = +1.35‰. Specimens: 7.5 kg, Casper; 4 kg, Heinlein; type specimen, 8 g, Mün; 25 g, NHM; 20 g, TCU; 80 g, Frei; 600 g, SI.
