NWA 15923 Eucrite Meteorite

NWA 15923 Eucrite Meteorite

This Eucrite meteorite is believed to have originated from the asteroid Vesta. It was discovered somewhere in North West Africa (NWA), in 2022. As meteorite hunters do not always want to reveal the location of where they were found, some meteorites are given the designation NWA to show that they were found in North West Africa - without pinpointing an exact location.

Eucrites are associated with two other types of meteorite - Howardites and Diogenites, forming a group known as HED meteorites (Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite). These are believed to have originated from the asteroid Vesta and come from different layers of the surface and deeper crust. Vesta has a turbulent history, which can be seen from the enormous impact craters on its surface. One such impact is thought to have blasted material out into space, creating a family of other smaller asteroids, as well as sending smaller rocks out into the Solar System. Many millions of years later, meteorites like this one, as a result of this giant impact, have fallen to Earth bringing us a small piece of Vesta and a time capsule from its violent past.

Between 2011 and 2017 NASA's Dawn mission orbited and studied Vesta up close, confirming that most HED meteorites originate from Vesta. The second largest object in the Asteroid Belt after the dwarf planet Ceres, Vesta is a differentiated body - meaning that it has separated into crust, mantle, and core. Forming early in the Solar System's history, Vesta melted due to containing short-lived radioactive materials. As a result, heavier, dense materials sank to the asteroid's core, whilst lighter materials rose to the surface - differentiating Vesta into crust, mantle, and core. Eucrites come from the crust, and this particular meteorite has been cut into a slice from a larger rock to show its fascinatingly complex structure.