Gibeon Meteorite

AN EXCEPTIONAL AND MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE CORE OF AN ASTEROID

Older than Earth, Gibeon meteorites formed 4.5 billion years ago within the molten core of an asteroid that orbited the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Following a collision with another asteroid, the Gibeon parent body shattered, allowing for the release of its molten metallic core. While most of the fragments of this violent event dispersed throughout the asteroid belt, a small fraction were deflected into an Earth-crossing orbit. Gibeon meteorites entered Earth's atmosphere several thousand years ago, pummeling the Kalahari Desert of Namibia.

The shape of this massive extraterrestrial sculpture is the product of numerous variables: its chemical composition, the soil chemistry where it landed, its orientation in the ground, as well as the amount of groundwater to which it was exposed and the amount of time that passed before it was unearthed. Appealing from every side, this specimen displays a strikingly jagged convex side and a handsomely dimpled concave surface on the reverse. Hewn by monumental forces encountered in space, frictional heating as it plunged through the Earth's atmosphere, and the weathering effects to which it was exposed on Earth's surface — this is a stunning iron meteorite that could be the centerpiece of any meteorite collection.