History of Muonionalusta

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History of  Muonionalusta

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The Muonionalusta meteorite (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmuo̯nionˌɑlustɑ], Swedish pronunciation: [mʉˈǒːnɪɔnalːɵsta]) is a meteorite classified as fine octahedrite, type IVA (Of) which impacted in northern Scandinavia, west of the border between Sweden and Finland, about one million years BCE.

The first fragment of the Muonionalusta meteorite was found in 1906 near the village of Kitkiöjärvi. Around forty pieces are known today, some being quite large. Other fragments have been found in a 25x15 kilometre (15.5 mi × 9.3 mi) area in the Pajala district of Norrbotten County, approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.

The meteorite was first described in 1910 by Professor A. G. Högbom, who named it after the nearby place Muonionalusta on the Muonio River. It was studied in 1948 by Professor Nils Göran David Malmqvist. The Muonionalusta meteorite, probably the oldest known meteorite (4.5653 ± 0.0001 billion years), marks the first occurrence of stishovite in an iron meteorite.

More information from The Meteoritical Society

Muonionalusta Fall to the world year 1906 in Norrbottens, Sweden Total weight 230 kilograms