Specimen E 4971 Henbury meteorite

Summary

The Henbury meteorite fell 4,700 years ago, over what is now the Northern Territory, Australia. The original meteorite would have weighed several tonnes. It broke into fragments as it fell, producing over a dozen craters as they hit the Earth. The meteorite fall and the crater field it produced feature in the stories and traditions of several aboriginal groups of the region.

The craters were identified as being formed by meteorite impacts in the 1930s after a University of Adelaide expedition. The Henbury meteorites are octahedrites, a common type of iron meteorite.

The museum holds nearly 40 pieces of Henbury meteorite. This piece was probably collected by Robert Bedford (1874-1951 ), founder of the Kyancutta Museum and Library who collected extensively at the crater field in the 1930s. It is one of 25 pieces of Henbury meteorite purchased in 1972 following the Kyancutta Museum's closure.