Odessa

Formerly in the collection of the Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico.

AN AESTHETIC IRON METEORITE WITH SIGNIFICANT PROVENANCE

Odessa Meteor Crater holds a particularly important distinction in the history of meteoritics, as it was only the second meteor crater ever identified, after Meteor Crater in Arizona. Indeed, one of the first individuals to argue that Odessa was a bone fide meteor crater was Daniel Moreau ("Reau") Barringer, Jr., former president of the Meteoritical Society and son of the original owner of Meteor Crater.

The Odessa bolide impacted the Earth about 63,500 years ago, forming a crater about 550 feet in diameter. And although the crater would once have been 100 feet deep, it has since been filled in with sediment, which made positive identification of the crater rather difficult for early 20th century researchers.

The specimen offered here is large and highly sculptural, with wide, curving regmaglypts and an angular protrusion on one side. In addition, it has superb provenance, having once been held in the collection of the University of New Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics.

REFERENCES:

Meteoritical Bulletin Entry for Odessa