L'Aigle meteorite, L'Aigle, Mortagne-au-Perche, Orne, Normandy, Francei

Regional Level Types
L'Aigle meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
L'Aigle	Commune
Mortagne-au-Perche	Arrondissement
Orne	Department
Normandy	Region
France	Country

Ordinary chondrite (L6,br; S3)
Fell, 26 April 1803, 13 hrs; 37 kg

After a bolide appeared and thunderous sounds were heard, a shower of small stones numbering perhaps 2,000 or more in number fell within a region of ~4 x 10 km. The plethora of stones observed by so many people in broad daylight, the numerous detonations heard far outside the actual region of impact, and the detailed report by the renowned J. B. Biot made it incumbent upon the European scientific community to officially recognize that stones do, in fact, 'fall from the sky.' Descriptions and photographs reveal a stone of variegated colors and with rounded and angular fragments and chondrules (often indistinct). The chondrules and very small metallic grains are found within a largely equilibrated matrix which is itself somewhat unevenly colored. Preservation of the various specimens is also notably uneven. Total iron contents (22.1 wt%) and composition of olivine (Fa23) and low Ca-orthopyroxene ('hypersthene) are characteristic of the L-chondrite geochemical group. Mineralogically the meteorite consists primarily of olivine and pyroxene with minor troilite, Fe-Ni metal, and plagioclase. Accessory chromite, ilmenite, and minor sulfides, oxides, and opaques are found. Shock indicators (level S3) include fractured olivine w. undulose extinction, deformed plagioclase, and small amounts of maskelynite.

The L-group of ordinary chondrites (relatively low in total iron) is the largest group of classified witnessed meteorite falls and account for ~45% of all well-classified meteorite falls. The L6 petrologic type accounts for ~ 70% of the group. While L'Aigle meteorite was the first meteorite to be recognized by the whole of the western scientific community, it was only the 5th of the 272 witnessed meteorite falls now classified exactly as 'L6' chondrites [June 2017]. Small amounts of the Mauerkirchen, Lucé, Kharkov, and Wold Cottage falls of the late 18th Century are still preserved and small samples are occasionally utilized in technical surveys.

After two centuries approximately 10 kg and 4 kg still remain in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris) and the Naturhistorisches Museum (Wiens), respectively.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Aigle_(meteorite)
Wikidata ID:	Q1880589

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References