Historical fall 16 May 2019 Oued Sfayat Chondrite H5 - 43×35×30 mm - 46.3 g - (1)

Oued Sfayat 26°42.433’N, 6°9.766’W

Tindouf, Algeria

Confirmed fall: 16 May 2019

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)

History: On May 16, 2019, a meteor was seen by a group of shepherds at 9:00 pm (local time) at the Dakhla camp in Tindouf, Algeria. The meteor came in at a low angle (about 30 °) from the west and was moving east at a relatively low velocity. A shockwave was felt as the meteor exploded, and a booming sound was heard near the camp. Hibballah, one of the shepherds present at the camp, went in search alone the following morning (May 17, 2019) for pieces of potential meteorites that may have fallen, by following the direction of the observed meteor trail and booming sound. That same day, Hibbballah recovered the first fragment, an 80 g freshly crusted individual in the area of Oued Sfayat, a river valley about 70 km to the east of the Dakhla camp. After finding this piece, Hibballah returned to the camp to tell his father Oueld Ennajm the location where he had found the first piece. Several days later, Oueld Ennajm and a some shepherds traveled to Oued Sfayat and over the next few of months went searching for more fragments. After searching between the end of May through the middle July in a 1-2 km area at Oued Sfayat, about 8 kg of freshly crusted individual fragments (mostly small stones of varying sizes between 10-60 g, with the exception of a few larger-sized individuals ~600 g) were recovered by Oueld Ennajm and the shepherds. Some of these recovered fragments were then later sold to Ahmed Chacha and Otman Sidi Ahmed. Later on, some of the purchased fragments (2.6 kg) were subsequently purchased by Youssef Bennani, who later sent some small stones in for analysis.

Physical characteristics: Stones are covered by a black, fresh fusion crust. A cut of the interior reveals a light-gray surface.

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