Millbillillie meteorite
The Millbillillie meteorite , a stone meteorite , fell near Wiluna in Western Australia , Australia , at 1:00 p.m. on an October day in 1960 .
The meteorite was observed by two people near the Millbillillie Jundee cattle station. At that time there was no further search for parts of the meteorite. In 1970 and 1971 a search was carried out by relatives of an observer of the event. They found the first two stones of the meteorite, one weighing around 20 kg, which is now on display in the Western Australian Museum in Perth , and another smaller one weighing 565 grams. Local Aborigines later found more stones, so that the estimated total mass is now 100 to 300 kilograms.
The Millbillillie meteor is a eukrit , a mixed crystalline rock . This meteor is classified as an achondrite . It is a polymictic rock that is surrounded by a glassy, molten crust. It consists of 49% pyroxene , 46% plagioclase , 0.7% ilmenite , iron and chromium-containing spinel and traces of metals and troilite .
It is believed that the Millbillillie meteorite was part of Vesta , the third largest object in the main belt .
Web links
- star-bits.com : Images of Millbillillie meteorites, including the interior
- enzyklo.de : Eukrit , accessed on May 21, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b meteorites.com.au : Millbillillie , in English, accessed May 21, 2012
- ↑ a b elib.dlr.de (PDF; 187 kB): LV Moroz, U. Schade, SS Rout, A. Bischoff: Reflectance spectroscopy of cloudy pyroxenes from Millbillilli eucrite , in English, accessed on May 21, 2012