Kaidun meteorite

"Kaydun" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Kaydun, Iran.
Kaidun
Type Chondrite
Class Carbonaceous chondrite
Group CR2
Parent body Phobos
Country Yemen
Region Hadhramaut Governorate
Coordinates 15°0′N 48°18′E / 15.000°N 48.300°E / 15.000; 48.300Coordinates: 15°0′N 48°18′E / 15.000°N 48.300°E / 15.000; 48.300[1]
Observed fall Yes
Fall date 3 December 1980
TKW 2 kg
Alternative names Kaydun

Kaidun is a meteorite that fell on 3 December 1980 on a Soviet military base near what is now Al-Khuraybah in Yemen. A fireball was observed travelling from the northwest to the southeast, and a single stone weighing about 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) was recovered from a small impact pit.[1][2]

Composition

It contains a uniquely wide variety of minerals, causing some confusion as to its origin. It is largely made up of carbonaceous chondrite material of type CR2, but it is known to contain fragments of other types, such as C1, CM1, and C3. Of the nearly 60 minerals found within the meteorite, several have not been found elsewhere in nature, such as florenskyite, which has the chemical formula: FeTiP.

Origin

In March 2004 it was suggested that the meteorite originated from the Martian moon Phobos.[3][4] The reason Phobos has been suggested is the existence of two extremely rare alkaline-rich clasts visible in the meteorite, each of which entered the rock at different times. This suggests that the parent body would have been near a source of an alkaline-rich rock, which is in particular a product of deep differentiation. This points to Mars and one of its moons, and Phobos is more likely than Deimos because it is closer to Mars.[5] However, mineralogical and noble gas work do not tie the lithic fragments to Mars, as has been done with other proven Martian meteorites, and this hypothesized link is tenable at best.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Kaidun
  2. ↑ Ivanov, Andrei V.; Ulyanov, A. A.; Skripnic, A. Y.; Konokona, N. N. (March 1984). "The Kaidun Polymict Carbonaceous Breccia: the Mixture of Incompatible Types of Meteorites". Lunar and Planetary Science. Astrophysics Data System. 15: 393–394. Bibcode:1984LPI....15..393I.
  3. ↑ Hogan, Jenny (22 April 2004). "'Weird' meteorite may be from Mars moon". New Scientist. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Ivanov, Andrei V. (March 2004). "Is the Kaidun Meteorite a Sample from Phobos?". Solar System Research. 38 (2): 97–107. Bibcode:2004SoSyR..38...97I. doi:10.1023/B:SOLS.0000022821.22821.84.
  5. ↑ Ivanov, Andrei V. (4 September 2003). "The Kaidun Meteorite: Where Did It Come From?" (PDF). Retrieved 20 August 2009.


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