[meteorite-list] Tomorrow at Bonhams - "The Extra-Ordinary Chondrite"

[Darryl Pitt]

Hi List,

The following is for chondrule lovers.....

Tomorrow there is an auction at Bonhams and a VERY special specimen is  
included in the mix:  one of the four largest complete slices of the  
most primitive planetary material (subtype 3.1 or less) known to exist.

At the most recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), the  
abstract on NWA 5717 was entitled:  "The Extra-Ordinary Chondrite:   
NWA 5717"  for excellent reasons (see below), and the complete slice  
offered at Bonhams is of one of the best:

NWA 5717

--It is one of only 17 ordinary chondrites with a subtype less than  
3.1(NWA 5717 is sub-type 3.05)
--It is one of only 14 ungrouped chondrites   (It's so anomalous,  
there is nothing it's anomalous to)
--It's the only CH-UNGR with a subtype less than 3.1
--It's the only known meteorite known to with two distinct 3.05  
lithologies---both of which were previously undocumented.

 From the press release....

  "NWA 5717 is an extraordinary meteorite," lead researcher and former  
NASA scientist Dr. Ted Bunch, declared. "Of the more than 40,000  
meteorites known to exist, only a handful are as primitive; it is  
unchanged since its origins in the early solar nebula.  However, what  
makes 5717 even more significant is that it's unique: it is from a  
previously unknown parent body and contains material never before seen."


To learn more about NWA 5717, go to http://www.macovich.com
To learn more about the specimen offered, go to http://bonhams.com and  
type in the SEARCH FIELD in the upper right, type in "NWA 5717"


Bonhams Natural History Auction
Thursday, May 27, 2010  /  1:00pm  EDT
580 Madison Avenue
New York City


If you wish to place a bid, either register at bonhams.com or write to  
both <tom.hertenstein at bonhams.com> and <Claudia.Florian at bonhams.com>   
and tell them I sent you.    ;-)


All the best  /  Darryl