Diogenite – ADIO
Tunisia

Diogenites are an exotic class of meteorites that scientists believe originated from the asteroid Vesta—of which Tatahouine is an example. Just outside the Tunisian town of Foum Tatahouine on July 27, 1931, a meteorite descending through the atmosphere exploded into thousands of small fragments—most of which weigh less than one gram.

The specimen offered here—collected by noted French meteoriticist Dr. Alain Carion and his son, Louis—is an exception. Given its distinctively olive green matrix, striated black shock veins and accretions of shock melt, no other meteorite looks like Tatahouine. In a different vein, the home planet of Luke Skywalker was named “Tatooine” in acknowledgement of the scenes shot in Tunisia for what was to become the epic film Star Wars.
39 x 29 x 25mm and 34.5 grams