While it was announced a small section of this newly historic meteorite is on display
at the venerable Natural History Museum in Vienna — the main mass of this piece of the moon is in Bethel
BETHEL — Recently the internet was filled with stories about a discovery of a new mineral in a lunar meteorite. The meteorite, Oued Awlitis 001, was found Jan. 15, 2014 by eight meteorite hunters at the end of a frustrating weeklong expedition in the country of Western Sahara for which they had little to show for their efforts. When digging a fire pit during their last night in the Sahara Desert they magically unearthed a rock they suspected was an unusual meteorite — and it was.
A consortium of European scientists from Germany, Austria, Norway and the Czech Republic made the discovery of the new mineral. Dr. Jörg Fritz from the Zentrum für Rieskrater und Impaktforschung in Germany was the lead author and the findings were published in the journal American Mineralogist. The various articles published mention that part of the meteorite is on display at the Natural History Museum in Vienna. What was not mentioned is that it’s a very small part of the meteorite. The main mass of the Oued Awlitis 001 meteorite happens to be on display at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (“MMGM”) in Bethel — which features more of the Moon than the 10 largest natural history museums in the world … combined.
The head of the MMGM’s meteorite division, Darryl Pitt, acquired Oued Awlitis 001 for the museum several years ago. “While it was clear to me Oued Awlitis was an unusually exotic lunar specimen, I never would have imagined it contained a previously unknown mineral — and one which provides a window into the evolution of non-gaseous planets.”
Oued Awlitis 001 is an anorthositic lunar impact melt rock with large anorthite clasts suspended in a matrix of plagioclase, olivine and pyroxene. It is believed to have been ejected from the Moon into an Earth crossing orbit 300,000 years ago. It traveled in space for hundreds of thousands of years before landing in the country now known as Western Sahara.
The newly-discovered mineral, named donwilhelmsite, is a high-pressure silicate with a formula of CaAl4Si2O11. It’s named in honor USGS geologist Don E. Wilhelms, now 90 years old, for his seminal and groundbreaking work on the geological history of the Moon.
You’re going to have to wait a little bit to see Oued Awlitis 001 at the MMGM. A water pipe broke at the museum and as a result of flooding, it has yet to be determined when the primary exhibit halls will be able to re-open.
In the meantime, in the MMGM’s Discovery Gallery remains open and it features a new exhibit celebrating the bicentennial of the discovery of gem tourmaline in North America — which was first discovered in Maine and is the Maine State Mineral. This is among the most comprehensive exhibits of tourmaline (elbaite) ever assembled. Admission is free.