This display is a round acrylic case that holds a genuine piece of our nearest celestial neighbor, the Moon. The case can be opened and the sample removed for study. The front of the display shows a photo of the full moon and a cutout with a sample of lunar meteorite. The reverse side has information about the specimen and the locality where it was found.
This display is about the size of a US “silver dollar”, or approx. 1.57 inches in diameter (40mm) and is a nice palm-sized presentation of the Moon that you can carry in your pocket. The moon rock specimen is a micromount fragment that weighs approx. 20-25mg (.020 to .025g).
An ideal gift for the astrophotographer, backyard stargazer, or astronomy fan.
From the Meteoritical Bulletin entry on Laayoune 002 :
Laâyoune 002
Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara (27.070°N, 13.202°W)
Find: 2022 Jan
Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)
History: Found near Laayoune, Morocco, in January 2022 and purchased from the finder by Aziz Habibi.
Physical characteristics: Both stones (3680 g, 1468 g) lack fusion crust and have a similar overall gray color with some whitish clasts visible.
Petrography: (A. Irving, UWS and P. Carpenter, WUSL) Breccia composed of mineral clasts of anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, pigeonite and augite plus accessory ilmenite, chromite (with variable Ti content) and minor secondary barite.
Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa46.3-46.7, FeO/MnO = 94-98, N = 4), orthopyroxene (Fs33.5Wo3.8, FeO/MnO = 57), pigeonite (Fs36.9-45.1Wo6.5-8.4, FeO/MnO = 57-64, N = 3), augite (Fs19.1-20.9Wo39.1-39.7, FeO/MnO = 53-54, N = 2), anorthite (An96.1-97.7Or0.3-0.1, N = 3).
Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia).
