Brenham (meteorite)
Encyclopedia
Brenham is a pallasite
Pallasite
A pallasite is a type of stony–iron meteorite.-Structure and composition:It consists of cm-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching...

 meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...

 found near Haviland
Haviland, Kansas
Haviland is a city in Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 701. Haviland is home of Barclay College....

, a small town between Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 and Dodge City in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Pallasite
Pallasite
A pallasite is a type of stony–iron meteorite.-Structure and composition:It consists of cm-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching...

s are a type of stony–iron meteorite that when cut and polished show beautiful yellowish olivine
Olivine
The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....

 (peridot) crystals.

History

A collector named H.O. Stockwell, in 1949 discovered a mass of 450 kg (1040 lbs)., known at the time as "The World's Largest Pallasite Meteorite."
In October 2005, the meteorite dealer Steve Arnold located and recovered the largest fragment ever found of Brenham: a single pallasite
Pallasite
A pallasite is a type of stony–iron meteorite.-Structure and composition:It consists of cm-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching...

 mass of 650 kg (1430 lbs).

Specimens

The 650 kg mass found by Steve Arnold is currently housed in a private collection in Texas.

The 450 kg mass discovered in 1949 is called The Space Wanderer and is on display at The Big Well
Big Well (Kansas)
The Big Well, in Greensburg, Kansas, USA, is a water well that was designed to provide water for the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads. It was built in 1887 at a cost of $45,000, and served as the municipal water supply until 1932....

 in Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 777. Greensburg is also home to the world's largest hand-dug well....

. It was found and hand dug in the Ellis Peck farm, east of Greensburg.

The world's largest collection of Brenham meteorite along with a 1200 pounds fragment is housed at the Kansas Meteorite Museum and Nature Center in Haviland, Kansas.

External links

  • http://www.worldrecordmeteorite.com/ Website about the largest recovered Brenham oriented fragment
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