Laâyoune 002 Lunar Meteorite - Beautiful Polish - 3.6g

Laâyoune 002 is a unique-looking, affordable (price per gram) lunar meteorite. It has been classified as a lunar feldspathic breccia, found near Laayoune, Morocco in January 2022. The stone lacks fusion crust, and has an overall gray color with visible whitish clasts. It is composed geochemically of mineral clasts like anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, pigeonite, and augite. Additionally, it contains accessory ilmenite, chromite, and minor secondary barite.

This is great opportunity to own a large slice of lunar at an affordable price per gram. The polish on one side brings out every mineral in this beautiful specimen. 

***How do we know it’s from the Moon? ***

Our moon lacks an atmosphere. When asteroids encounter these celestial bodies (which happens frequently), fragments eject from the impact and occasionally make their way into Earth’s orbit. If the stone survives its cataclysmic entry into Earth, it lands on the ground and becomes known as a meteorite. Once studied under a microscope by leading scientists in the field of Meteoritics, the stone's origin is then plotted based on its compositional property to the different classes of asteroids and samples returned to Earth. Lunar meteorites specifically are compared to samples returned by NASA's Apollo mission astronauts. From there, meteorites make their way into museums, universities and to the general public all around the world.