AUBRITE METEORITES SPECIMENS

Aubrites are a unique class of achondritic meteorite that represent some quite extreme formation conditions in the early solar system. Aubrites are almost all heavily brecciated, consisting of whitish enstatite, with occasional inclusions of olivines, nickel-iron, and troilite, along with impact-melted clasts seen in achondrites. They are named for the town of Aubres, France, where the first of this meteorite type was found.

Enstatite is a form of the mineral orthopyroxene that forms in igneous conditions and is considered an early stage of mineral formation in the solar system. Enstatite meteorites likely originate from E-type (enstatite-rich) asteroids close to the Sun, perhaps even from Mercury! Enstatite has even been observed outside of the solar system around evolved stars and planetary nebulae. Enstatite-rich aubrites are also incredibly rare: only about 80 have ever been found.

In fact, one of the most recent recorded meteorite falls was an aubrite! One of these unusual stones fell outside Berlin, Germany just after midnight on January 21st, 2024. Based on its flight path, this aubrite cam from an orbit wider than Earth's instead of the inner solar system.