Meteorite | Achondrite | Rafsa 005 | 79,4 g

Product detailed description

Rafsa 005 belongs to the angrites and is a plutonic igneous rock (plutonic type). It is not "volcanic" lava on the surface, but a rock that crystallized by slow cooling beneath the surface of a small, differentiated planetesimal in the early solar system. This method of formation creates a typical granular structure and a very stable mineral arrangement.

Why is this important? Some angrite rocks, including this type, preserve traces of ancient magnetic fields. Thanks to them, scientists have proven that even small bodies had their own metallic core and a short-lived "dynamo" that created a magnetic field with an intensity in the order of microtesla. In contrast, almost zero fields were found in the oldest surface lavas, indicating that the solar nebula was already magnetically weak at that time.

In short, Rafsa 005 is a window into the interior of the first building blocks of the planets—it shows how magma solidified in them and helps us understand when and how magnetic fields were created in the earliest history of our solar system.

Angrites, which include Rafsa, are among the rarest meteorites of all. So far, only 62 angrites have been classified out of a total of over 78,000 classified meteorites.

This particular piece was discovered in 2023 in northern Algeria. The fragments found weighed about 2 kg and are now part of private collections and the meteorite market.