Katol is an unusual meteorite fall from May 22, 2012. It possesses odd characteristics that defy visual classification. A modest amount of this material has reached the collector market. The samples being offered here are fresh and were collected before the rains.
Katol has the following strange characteristics - greenish matrix, plentiful metal, glossy vesiculated crust, and a granular texture. At least one piece was found that was almost entirely iron with silicate inclusions, while most of the other specimens have been stony types. Katol has been classified as an L6 chondrite. This classification is somewhat unexpected in terms of petrology and there is still active research ongoing with this unusual meteorite.
Refer to the photo. You are purchasing a small fragment selected from the larger lot shown. Your purchase will include a labeled gemjar for safe storage.
From the Meteoritical Bulletin entry on Katol :
Katol 21° 15' 50"N, 78° 35' 29"E
Maharashtra, India
Fell: 2012
Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L6)
History: On May 22, 2012, at 14:10 local time, a large meteor shower occurred over the town of Katol in the Nagpur District of India. The visual event was followed by 30 to 50 s of sonic booms. At least 30 stones were recovered by GSI in an ellipse centered around 21°15.837’N and 78°35.485’E. The fall was described byMahajan and Murty (2012).
Physical characteristics: The largest stone is around 1 kg. Crust ranges from glossy (in stones that have little attraction to a magnet) to black and dull. In addition to the stones, at least five iron-rich objects were collected, the largest being a 7 × 5 × 2 cm, 136 g oriented shield. Total recovered mass is in excess of 13 kg. Interior of the fresh stones is medium grained with a sugary texture, and mottled whitish gray with distinct, scattered, light apple-green crystals to 1 mm. Black chromite to 1 mm. Thin shock veins common. One slice shows a thick several mm-thick, straight shock vein. Scattered clusters (to 200 μm) of transparent, honey-brown Ca-Cl phosphates visible in the fresh stones. On contact with water, the stones rapidly (within minutes) become orange stained.
