Tatahouine Meteorite — From The Asteroid Vesta And "Star Wars"

On June 27, 1931 a fireball was seen to explode and thousands of small fragments rained down outside the southern Tunisian town of Foum Tatahouine, about 50 miles from the Mediterranean coast.

While the overwhelming majority of meteorites originate from the asteroid belt, NASA’s Dawn space probe provided overwhelming evidence that HED meteorites (howardites, eucrites and diogenites) are among the few meteorites with a specific return address: Vesta, the second largest asteroid in our solar system. 

Tatahouine is a diogenite (i.e., a rare type of igneous meteorite which formed sufficiently deep within Vesta’s crust that it was able to slowly solidify which supported the formation of large crystals, primarily orthopyroxene. Diogenites are named after the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes who was the first to suggest the outer space origin for meteorites which required thousands of years before being confirmed by scientists.

Diogenites tend to possess an otherworldly beauty and Tatahouine is no exception. Tatahouine’s appearance, however, is unique as a result of having been heavily shocked around the time it formed so its crystals melted and became opaque before re-hardening. Most Tatahouine specimens weigh less than a gram. The specimen offered here is an exception and was found by legendary meteorite hunter and mineral collector Alain Carion — who still maintains a shop in Paris. Tatahouine’s idiosynctratic olive-green matrix and striated seams of shock melt are in evidence. The reverse is a cut flat face which spotlights Tatahouine’s aforementioned unique texture.

A number of scenes from the original Star Wars were shot in the exotic Tunisian locale of Tatahouine, and in recognition of the same “Tatooine” became Luke Skywalker’s home planet. Nothing resembles Tatahouine or possess its legacy, and this is an alluring specimen of this fabled and highly sought-after meteorite.

PROVENANCE:

Alain Carion Collection of Meteorites, Paris