TWO ORIENTED METEORITE SECTIONS SEPARATED IN THE SKY AND REUNITED ON EARTH, Meteorite (chondrite) — precise classification undetermined The Sahara Desert

These two meteorite fragments were part of an oriented meteorite that experienced an “air break”. Elongated regmaglypts (flight markings) accent both specimens, which are both embossed with a natural dark-red mahogany-hued desert varnish — the result of their residency in the Sahara. Accompanied by a custom armature.
89 x 61 x 63 mm. (3½ x 2½ x 2½ in.) and 515 g. (1⅛ lbs)
98 x 162 x 69 mm. (3¾ x 6⅓ x 2¾ in.) and 1,390 g. (3 lbs)

Two oriented meteorite fragments that broke apart in the air and fell in distant proximity to one another, as they were recovered by different individuals, and after having later been scattered across the Sahara were astonishingly reunited overseas.

In early 2017 the curator of the Macovich Collection was delighted to acquire from a meteorite hunter the larger of the two masses now offered. A year later, Aziz Habibi, a renowned Moroccan meteorite dealer, visited the collection in New York with meteorites he had brought for consideration. Among his offerings was a beautiful fragment of a desirable oriented meteorite.

Unlike 99% of all meteorites, oriented meteorites don’t invert or tumble as they plunge through Earth’s atmosphere. This only occurs when there is a fortuitous distribution of the meteorite’s mass as well as a fortuitous angle of entry into the atmosphere. As a result of maintaining the same axis of orientation, such meteorites gain a wonderful aesthetic appearance and their direction of flight is readily discerned. The parabolic curve on the leading face of oriented meteorites is the angle at which heat is most efficiently deflected from a falling body — and this same curve inspired the design of the heat shields for NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules.

As the merits of the smaller specimen were discussed the curator noted that it reminded him of a specimen acquired a year ago. Habibi responded, “Show me!”
Upon locating the larger specimen the connoisseurship was vindicated: both pieces fitted together. Finding fragments from the same meteorite at separate location is almost unheard of. Habibi was stunned and dispatched the news of this event to the international meteorite community.

To enable scientists to refer to individual meteorites, there must be a nomenclature system in place. Meteorites are named after the localities where they fall, but in the desert, where there are few distinguishing geological features, meteorites are named after the designated grid in which they are found and are assigned sequential numbers. As the current offering was found in the Sahara Desert, it would be assigned a name that commences “Northwest Africa” (NWA) followed by a number. For this specimen to become named, a 20-gram (or larger) sample must be sent to an accredited researcher for analysis. The researcher’s findings are then peer reviewed and upon a consensus of the specimen’s petrography, geochemistry, type and classification, the meteorite is then named and published in the Meteoritical Bulletin and is then part of the scientific literature. Should one wish to have this meteorite classified and be listed in the annals of the Meteoritical Bulletin — or one can remain anonymous if preferred — we can provide the introduction and guide you through this process.
Meteorites possess highly specific elemental signatures, not only in regard to their constituent elements, but also the ratios of these elements. Based on the foregoing, XRF analysis indisputably confirms these are meteorite fragments. The flight markings in evidence provide further validation of these fragments being part of a rare oriented meteorite whose extraordinary travels were not over after landing on Earth.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalog note.