How are meteorites named?
Meteorites are named after the place where they are found
By long-standing convention, meteorites are given names and those names represent the place where the meteorite was found. The finder of the meteorite does not choose the name. Usually, the person who classifies the meteorite (the scientist who determines what type of meteorite it is) suggests a name based on information the finder provides (most importantly, latitude and longitude) and guidelines presented in a 12-page booklet, Guidelines for Meteorite Nomenclature. The Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society is responsible, however, for approving the name or assigning a more appropriate name in light of the guidelines.
The Meteoritical SocietyIntroduction to Guidelines for Meteorite Nomenclature “Every effort should be made to avoid unnecessary duplication or ambiguity, and to select a permanent feature which appears on widely used maps and is sufficiently close to the recovery site to convey meaningful locality information. Acceptable names include physiographic features such as rivers, mountains, lakes, bays, capes, and islands, political features such as towns, counties, states, and provinces, and sites of human activity such as parks, mines, historical sites, and railroad stations. Other sites mainly associated with recent human activity, such as buildings, commercial localities, schools, bridges, roads, and golf courses are not generally acceptable names for meteorites. In sparsely populated areas with few place names, less permanent features such as ranches or stations or, in extreme cases, local unofficial names of distinctive quality may be used, provided the latitude and longitude of the recovery site are well determined.” |
I study rocks from the Moon. All the rocks and soil samples from the Apollo missions were given 5-digit numbers like 10084, 15415, and 76535. This system is useful in that if you know the code you can determine from the number that, for example, sample 76535 is from station 6 at Apollo 17 and the terminal 5 indicates that the sample it is a rock, not a soil. The system is, nevertheless, dull and boring. When I go to meetings and listen to meteoriticist colleagues give talks, my mind wanders when they use wonderful meteorite names like Dingo Pup Donga, Rumuruti, and Vaca Muerta. What-where is a Dingo Pup Donga? Where is Rumuruti? Vaca Muerta is Spanish for dead cow. Is that a place or was a dead cow the most prominent “physiographic feature” in the Atacama Desert of Chile where the meteorite was found? Answers: In Australia, a donga is a steep-sided, usually dry ravine and a dingo is a lineage of wild dog. Apparently, one such donga was frequented by a dingo pup and so named. Rumuruti is a village in Kenya. Vaca Muerta is the name of an extensive rock formation occurring mainly in Argentina. The Vaca Muerta meteorite was found in 1861, the 5th of over 2000 meteorites that have been found in Chile, nearly all in the Atacama Desert. I suspect that the Vaca Muerta name would not be approved today because it is not “sufficiently close to the recovery site to convey meaningful locality information” (see Fig. 6 below).
My favorite meteorite name is Beer Bottle Pass. On a recent COVID19 stay-at-home day I decided to find out how the meteorite acquired that name. After a while I was perusing all the meteorites for which the name started with the letter B. In the table below I list the first 97 (of 433) B-meteorites listed in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database (hereafter, MetBull; September, 2021). Beer Bottle Pass is the 97th and last in the table below. The table presents information about how meteorites are found and named.
Ninety-seven meteorites with names starting with the letter B
Meteorite name | Where | Year | Type | Reported find location and circumstances, if known (from MetBull and sources cited therein) |
Baandee | Western Australia, Australia | 1967 | OC-H | 4 miles ESE of the Baandee railway station. “A small [256 g], very fresh stone was picked up by Mr. R. Spillman while ploughing.” |
Babb’s Mill | Tennessee, USA | 1841 & 1876 (two different pieces) | Iron | I suspect that the coordinates of the find location are incorrect. Mills are built on rivers. The MetBull find location (36° 18’N, 82° 53’W), which is not on a river, is 10.5 km WNW of the village of Babb’s Mill on the Roaring Fork River (36° 15.80’N, 82° 46.66’W). This type of error is more likely to have occurred before the advent of topographic maps and GPS. “Before 1896, 1 mass [known unofficially as Blake’s Iron] of about 135 kg (300 lbs.) was plowed up in Greene County, not far from where the Babb’s Mill, Troosts’s Iron, fragments were discovered.” |
Bachmut | Donetsk, Ukraine | 1814 fall | OC-L | The reported find coordinates lies in the city of Bachmut. I suspect that this is one of many cases here where the actual find location is not known exactly and the reported location is that of the city or town after which the meteorite is named. “A stone of 18kg fell, after detonation.” |
Bacqueville | Haute-Normandie, France | 1999 | OC-H | ~2 km NW of center of the commune of Bacqueville. “A 395 g single stone was found by Mr. Trehour, who was looking for metallic and archaeological objects in a field close to the forest of Bacqueville.” |
Bacubirito | Sinaloa, Mexico | 1863 | Iron | 44 km N of the town of Bacubirito. “…in 1902 Mr. H.A. Ward set out to locate, photograph, and obtain material from the giant specimen. His detailed account (1902a) of the journey to the distant place and of the excavation, provided with many photographs, will remain a classic in the meteoritic annals. He gave the maximum dimensions as 13’1″ in length, 6’2″ in width and 5’4″ in thickness, and estimated the weight as 50 tons…” In the MetBull the mass is listed as 22 tons. |
Bagdad | Arizona, USA | 1959 | Iron | 20 km W of the town of Bagdad. “Along Burro Creek about 20 km West Bagdad, Arizona, USA.” “New information received from William Stout, 3 Oct 2012. Don L. Stout and son William found a rusty mass on a jeep trail leading to small corral in the spring of 1959. The mass [2.2 kg] was found at 34°36.799’ N and 113°23.938’ W, about 0.3 miles south of Red Knob butte.” |
Bagnone | Toscana, Italy | 1904 | Iron | MetBull location is 1 km W of Castello di Bagnone. “One mass of 48kg was found on a hill near Bagnone.” |
Bahjoi | Uttar Pradesh, India | 1934 fall | Iron | MetBull coordinates are 15-16 km NW of the city of Bahjoi. “A fireball was observed at Delhi and in several neighboring districts at 9 :30p.m., July 23, 1934. Some cowherds in the village Chandankati Muazam, which is about 15 km southwest of Moradabad and 2.5 km north-west of Bahjoi, saw a flashing, bluish-white light and heard three low sounds as if guns were fired. Other eyewitnesses believed they saw the fireball split in to at least two portions about 20° above the horizon. On the 25th the cowherd witnesses found one mass of 10.3 kg slightly buried in grazing land, but other pieces were never recovered.” |
Baja California | Baja California, Mexico | ? | Iron | “One meteorite specimen [10 kg] was found by Mr. Aguilar (date unknown) near a ranch 70 km east of Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico, on a rocky mountain (probably near Rancho). Friends of the finder brought an endcut of the meteorite to the U. of Arizona for examination.” |
Bakhardok | Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan | 1978 | OC-L | “In the Karakum desert, about 48 km south-west of Bakhardok, Turkmenistan, USSR.” (Bukhara on modern maps?) 4.1 kg |
Balambala | North-Eastern, Kenya | 2018 | Iron | Balambala is a constituency in Kenya. “Dhagax Bir is the name attributed to the meteorite by the region’s goat herders; the name means metal stone in the local spoken Somali dialect. According to the local residents the meteorite (60.5 kg) was in this location for as long as anyone could remember, including a woman 60 years of age who regularly herded goats past this stone since she was 10 years old. In January 2018, a nomad identified the stone as an iron meteorite, and then brought it to a local broker in the nearest city of Garissa.” |
Balcarce | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 2000 | OC-H | 9-10 km W of the town of Balcarce. “Several pieces [2280 g], including the main mass of 1780 g, were found at the base of Cerro Amarante in June 2000.” The reported coordinates appear to be those of the peak of Cerro Amarante. |
Bald Eagle | Pennsylvania, USA | 1891 | Iron | “A mass of 3.2 kg (7 lbs, 1 oz) was discovered in 1891 on the east side of Bald Eagle Mountain, seven miles south of the Park Hotel, Williamsport, in Lycoming County.” Reported coordinates in the MetBull (41°17’N, 77°3’W) appear to be incorrect as they are 6-7 km NW, not S, of the town of Williamsport. Coordinates in Buchwald (1975) (41°12’N, 77°7’W) correspond to the description. |
Bald Mountain | North Carolina, USA | 1929 fall | OC-L | 3 km S of Big Bald peak (1680 m), Appalachian Mountains. [3.7 kg] |
Baldwyn | Mississippi, USA | 1922 fall | OC-L | 3 km WSW of the town of Baldwyn. [345 g] |
Balfour Downs | Western Australia, Australia | 1962 | Iron | Near the Balfour Downs sheep station. “The exact locality of the meteorite [2.4 kg] find is not known.” |
Bali | Nana-Mambere, Central African Republic | 1907 fall | CC-V | Along the Lobaya (Bali) River, ~107 km SE of Bouar. “…fell near the Bali mission in the country then called Cameroun.” [1000 g] |
Ballarat | Victoria, Australia | 1867 | Iron | Coordinates are presently within the city of Ballarat. “The 15 g meteorite was found during mining operations by the Park Company in deep lead placer deposits below basalt flows in the West Ballarat goldfield.” |
Ballinger | Texas, USA | 1927 | Iron | 4.5 km NW of the city center of Ballinger. “No particulars are preserved of the history, but the meteorite is supposed to come from Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas.” [1.25 kg] |
Ballinoo | Western Australia, Australia | 1892 | Iron | 20 km S of Ballinyoo Spring and 34 km NNE of Nunierra. “A mass of 42.9 kg resembling a huge flattened potato was found in 1893 by a shepherd, George Denmack, on the water-wash of a tributary of the Murchison River, about 10 miles south of Ballinoo.” |
Balsas | Maranhao, Brazil | 1974 | Iron | MetBull coordinates are in the city of Balsas. “A 41 kg iron [41 kg] was found in a grain field by Mr. Mario Rodrigues.” |
Balyer Bluff | Western Australia, Australia | 2012 | OC-LL | 7 km SW of the town of Cue near a bluff. “Two interlocking, freshly crusted fragments (351.79 and 1728.36 g) were found lying on the surface in 2012 and 2013, respectively, by M. Jefferson.” |
Ban Cho Lae | Chiang Mai, Thailand | 1975 | OC-H | Met Bull coordinates are in jungle, ~7 km S of city of Ban Cho Lae. [2.25 kg] |
Ban Rong Du | Phetchabun, Thailand | 1993 fall | Iron | MetBull coordinates are at the present site of Ban Long Du school, 1 km W of Phetchabun Airport. “A 16.7 kg iron meteorite was collected by Mr. Saree Ragkon and Mrs. Kumla Ragkon from the bottom of a 110 cm deep hole in sandy soil. The meteorite was observed to fall at a steep angle, coming from the southwest.” |
Bandong | Jawa Barat, Indonesia | 1871 fall | OC-LL | MetBull coordinates are in the city of Bandung. “Six stones, of total weight about 11.5 kg, fell after detonation.” |
Banma | Qinghai, China | 2016 fall | OC-L | Banma county, 7 km SE of town of Manzhangxiang. “On 24 August 2016, at about 21:00 local time, several nomads of Banma City, Qinghai province, saw a bright object flying from a southeasterly direction, followed by a loud explosion. The next day, the nomads searched in the direction of the explosion and found a black stone embedded in the ground in a small crater on a hillside.” [10.05 kg] |
Bañobárez | Castilla y Leon, Spain | 1981 | Iron | MetBull coordinates are 0.5 km from center of village of Bañobárez. “Eduardo Martín González, retired teacher and founder of the Archeological Museum of Lumbrales (Salamanca), got the sample from a farmer, who found it in 1981.” [132 g] |
Bansur | Rajasthan, India | 1892 fall | OC-L | MetBull coordinates are 2.4 km NW of center of the village of Bansur. [15 kg] |
Banswal | Uttar Pradesh, India | 1913 fall | OC-L | “At Banswal, a hamlet of Chamarsari village, 30° 24′ N., 78° 12″ E., 10 miles SE of Mussoorie, district Dehra Dun.” It is not self-evident on modern online maps where Banswal is, but the coordinates are along a road between places named Rawali and Goth. [14 g] |
Banten | Jawa Barat, Indonesia | 1933 or 1953 fall | CC-M | 3 km ENE of peak of Pulosari volcano, Banten Province. “After an afternoon fall, 4 stones were recovered.” Sources disagree on the year! [629 g] |
Baqiangzi | Xinjiang, China | 2012 | EL | 1 km SW of Baqiangzixiang peak. “One piece was discovered by the geologist Jianming Wang (Hami/Xinjiang) during field work near Barkol in 2012. After confirmation of its meteoritic nature, Jianming Wang discovered further fragments in 2019.” [1200 g] |
Baquedano | Antofagasta, Chile | 1932 | Iron | 5 km NW of the town of Baquedano (Fig. 5). [22 kg] |
Baquedano 002 | Antofagasta, Chile | 2016 | OC-H | 27 km SE of the town of Baquedano (Fig. 5). [197 g] |
Barbacena | Minas Gerais, Brazil | 1918 | Iron | Met Bull coordinates are along Mortes, river 17 km west of the town of Barbacena. “Two oxidized masses of 6.1 and 2.9 kg were found in 1918 (Oliveira 1931).” |
Barbianello | Lombardia, Italy | 1960 | Iron | MetBull coordinates are in a field 2 km SSW of the town of Barbianello. “A single mass of 860 g was found by farmer Clemente Allini while he was ploughing a cornfield.” |
Barbotan | Aquitaine, France | 1790 fall | OC-H | MetBull location is in the town of Barbotan. “On July 24, 1790, around 9:30 p.m., Mr. De Carrit-Barbotan and Mr. Baudin were walking through the courtyard of the Castle of Mormès. They observed suddenly an intense glow. Raising their heads, they saw a fireball heading south to north, according to their report (although this trajectory is questionable). The meteor broke up into several glowing fragments. Three minutes later, a violent detonation was heard. The object fragmented near Julliac and a number of stones fell over a fairly large area. Stones fell in the moors, in the forests, in some farmyards, but without causing any known damage to houses; according to the Marquis de Drée, a stone might have killed a shepherd and cattle, but there is no proof. The phenomenon was observed as far away as Limoges. The strewnfield of the Barbotan meteorite fall is extensive, as it goes from Losse (Landes), Mézin (Lot-et-Garonne), Eauze (Gers) to Créon d’Armagnac (Landes), according to reports.” [recovered mass: 6.4 kg] |
Barcelona | Cataluna, Spain | 1704 fall | OC-? | MetBull coordinates are in the city of Barcelona. “J. Llorca, UPC, reports that fragments of the previously lost meteorite were discovered in a glass jar, accompanied by an old label, in the Salvador Cabinet collection (Botanic Institute of Barcelona). The fragments are very well preserved and partially covered by fresh fusion crust.” 1704 is the oldest fall/find year in this list. |
Barcis | Veneto, Italy | 1950 | Pall | MetBull coordinates are 0.8 km SSW of Poiatte on shore of Lago di Santa Croce, but 18 km SW of Lago di Barcis. Is this a location error? [87 g] |
Bardaï | Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Chad | 2005 | OC-H | 48 km NNW of town and oasis of Bardaï. “Belgian members of an NGO working in Ndrali, Tibesti, found this meteorite in a flat, sand- and gravel-covered area, 30 km north of Ndrali settlement.” [8 kg] |
Barea | La Rioja, Spain | 1842 fall | Meso | 12 km SW of Varea village, city of Logroño. [3.2 kg] |
Barnaul | Altayskiy kray, Russia | 1904 fall | OC-H | 72 km SSE of the city of Barnaul. [23.2 g] |
Barnstable | Massachusetts, USA | 2018 | OC-H | 1.8 km SW of the town of West Barnstable. “The main mass was found on the surface resting in decomposing leaves surrounded with wild native blueberry bushes; other fragments were found similarly, covered with leaves with margins encased in soil, and some were found beneath the surface 1-4″ deep.” [Total recovered mass: 14.28 kg] |
Barntrup | Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | 1886 | OC-LL | MetBull coordinates are 2 km NW of the town of Barntrup. [17 g] |
Baroti | Himachal Pradesh, India | 1910 | OC-L | MetBull coordinates are 18 km S of the town of Barati. |
Barranca Blanca | Atacama, Chile | 1855 | Iron | Buchwald (1975): “A mass of about 12.5 kg was found in 1855 by a muleteer, Vincenti Avila, close to ‘Barranca Blanca,’ a refuge from the terrible tempests of the Andes, between Copiapo [Chile] and Catamarca [Argentina] (Fletcher 1889).” The MetBull coordinates (28° 5’S, 69° 20’W) are consistent with this description and the location appears to be in a valley. A mountain known as Barranca Blancas lies 140 km to the NNE, however, just south of highway 31 about 40 km W of San Francisco Pass (4726 m) on the Chile-Argentina border. Buchwald: “…the meteorite was listed under the synonym San Francisco Pass, which is 200 northeast of the locality which [that] Fletcher (1889) stated might be the place of find, on a more southern route across the Andes. The coordinates given above [MetBull] are based on Fletcher’s map.” I suspect that the coordinates are correct but both names, Barranca Blanca and San Francisco Pass are inaccurate. |
Barratta | New South Wales, Australia | 1845 | OC-L | MetBull location is 3.7 km SE of the town of Barratta. [200 kg] |
Barrilla | Texas, USA | 1994 | OC-H | 7 km SE of peak of Barrilla Mountains. “An 11.1 kg stone was spotted from a moving vehicle at the edge of a dirt road.” |
Bartlett | Texas, USA | 1938 | Iron | 8 km NW of the town of Bartlett. “A rounded mass of 8.59 kg was plowed up about 1935 on the Molly Benson farm, 8 km west of the town of Bartlett, Bell County.” |
Baruun Urt | Suhbaatar, Mongolia | 2002 | OC-H | MetBull coordinates are 2 km N of the center of the town of Baruun Urt. [25.9 g] |
Barwell | England, UK | 1965 fall | OC-L | The precise MetBull coordinates lie at the SW edge of the town of Barwell. Natural History Museum: “On Christmas Eve 1965, a meteorite the size of a Christmas turkey broke up over the Leicestershire village of Barwell. It remains the largest [44 kg] meteorite fall observed in Britain.” spacecentre.co.uk: “Only two pieces of the space rock were recovered on the day of the fall. The first landed on a road, forming a small crater. It shattered into several pieces, a fragment of which went through Mr Grewcock’s front room window. It landed in a vase of imitation flowers where it remained, amazingly, undiscovered for 19 days.” |
Barwise | Texas, USA | 1950 | OC-H | The MetBull coordinates are 2.5 km E of the community of Barwise. “Meteorite [10.4 kg] was plowed up in field.” |
Bassikounou | Hodh ech Chargui, Mauritania | 2006 fall | OC-H | “A fireball was witnessed in the area, but no records of the direction of movement were recorded. A single stone of 3165 g was found by A. Salem El Moichine, a local resident, on the same day at 13:00 hr local time, 11 km SE of Bassikounou.” |
Baszkówka | Warszawa, Poland | 1994 fall | OC-L | “The fall was observed by Halina Grodzki in the village Baszkówka, 23 km SSW of Warszawa. A moment before she heard a sonic boom, she saw a movement on the surface of cultivated land, -200 m away from her. Krzysztof Grodzki located a circular area of fresh ground -2 m wide and recovered the stone from 25 cm under the surface.” [Total recovered mass: 15.5 kg] |
Bates Nunataks A78001-A78005 & 00300-00310 | Antarctica | 1978 & 2000 | 14 OCs & 1 Eucr | On blue ice fields, in the vicinity of Bates Nunataks, Transantarctic Mountains. In Antarctica, many meteorites are often found in a small geographic area. So, serial numbers are added to the name. In this case, “Bates Nunataks A78xxx” means that field party A of the 1978-1979 field season found 5 meteorites and “Bates Nunataks 00xxx” means 10 more were found by another field party during the 2000-2001 field season. Meteorites are collected during the austral summer, which means December and January in Antarctica. One cannot tell from the name, for example, whether a particular meteorite was collected in December 2000 of January 2001. In Antarctica and “dense collection areas” in hot deserts, meteorite names are often abbreviated, e.g., BTN for Bates Nunataks and NWA for Northwest Africa. [Mass range: 10.7 g – 4.3 kg] |
Batesland | South Dakota, USA | 1961 | OC-H | The MetBull coordinates are 0.5 km N of the center of the town of Batesland. “A 2.5 kg stone was found in a shallow depression and used as a paperweight for 35 years.” |
Bath | South Dakota, USA | 1892 fall | OC-H | 5.8 km S of the town of Bath (pop. 223, 2019). [21 kg] |
Bath Furnace | Kentucky, USA | 1902 fall | OC-L | The MetBull coordinates (38° 15’N, 83° 45’W) are 12 km N of the town of Owingsville in Bath Co. The Clear Creek furnace operated from 1839-1857. It was rebuilt an renamed Bath Furnace in 1873. The location, however, was along the Licking River, about 3.6 km SSE of Owingsville (38° 06′ 54″N, 83° 44′ 53″W). [86 kg] |
Battle Mountain | Nevada, USA | 2012 fall | OC-L | 21 km W of the town of Battle Mountain. “The fall was observed in weather radar imagery from the US NEXRAD radar network, operated by the US National Weather Service. The discovery and analysis was done by Dr. Marc Fries, Galactic Analytics LLC. The KLRX radar in Elko, Nevada, is approximately 33 km from the fall site and recorded the fall in eight radar sweeps between 0619.26 UTC and 0621.03 UTC. This time span of 97 s is short compared to other meteorite falls observed by radar. This could be a result of meteorite production by a single, large breakup event, by relatively little fragmentation, or a combination of the two factors. The first stone was found on September 1, 2012, 10:50 AM (PDT) by Robert Verish; it weighs 19.25 g. As of 3 Oct 2012, at least 23 stones with a total mass of ~2.9 kg have been reported.” |
Batyushkovo | Smolenskaya region, Russian Federation | 2007 | OC-L | MetBull coordinates are 2 km N of the village of Batyushkovo. “A stone [4.62 kg] was discovered in a ravine near Batyushkovo village by A.I. Komyagin, who was looking for boulders for his garden.” |
Bawku | Upper East, Ghana | 1989 fall | OC-LL | 7 km ENE of the village of Bawku. “Two pieces weighing 1504 and 59 g, respectively, were collected by villagers from this fall between the villages Naarango-Anisi and Kpukparigu, east of Bawku.” |
Baxter | Missouri, USA | 1916 fall | OC-L | The MetBull location (36° 45’N, 93° 30’W) is 20 km N of the “extinct town” of Baxter on the James River, but only 2.4 km NNE of the town of Cape Fear, upstream and also on the James River. The White River was dammed in 1954-1958, creating Table Rock Lake from the White River, James River, and other Ozark tributaries. The town of Baxter is now the location of a public use area and marina (36° 34’N, 93° 30’W). I suspect a transcription error in reporting the latitude minutes, i.e., 45 (incorrect) vs. 34 (correct). |
Bayard | Nebraska, USA | 1982 | OC-L | MetBull location is 7 km NNW of the town of Bayard. “Near Bayard, in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, USA.” [75 kg] |
Baygorria | Durazno, Uruguay | 1994 | Iron | “A single mass, ~80 kg, was found in a grass field near Baygorria dam.” Reported coordinates are 77 km ESE of the dam, however (Fig 12.). |
Bayin Gobi 002 | Nei Mongol, China | 2011 | OC-L | Middle of nowhere in the Bayun Gobi desert, 192 km WNW of town of Bayannur. “The meteorite [3.5 kg] was found by Taojirigele on 18 Oct 2011, in the Gobi Desert around Yingensumu city in Neimenggu province, China. The meteorite was found by a person hunting for agate and gobi stones.” This is one of 3 Bayin Gobi meteorites. The other 2 were found together 27 km away. [35 kg and 4 kg] |
Bazine Creek | Kansas, USA | 2014 | OC-L | 22 km NNW of the town of Bazine, through which flows Bazine Dry Creek. “A single mass [438 g] was found by M. Rooney while he was hunting arrowheads.” |
Bealiba | Victoria, Australia | 1950 | OC-L | MetBull coordinates are ~2 km NE of the center of the town of Bealiba. |
Bear Creek | Colorado, USA | 1866 | Iron | The reported find location is 1.6 km NE of town on Marshdale. It is not self-evident from online topographic maps where Bear Creek is. “A weathered mass, estimated to weigh 225 kg (500 lbs), was found in 1866 at 2,400 m altitude on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains (Shepard 1866). The locality was a deep gulch near Bear Creek, Jefferson County, about 40 km west of Denver (Henry 1866; Preston 1902b).” |
Bear Lodge | Wyoming, USA | 1931 | Iron | “An angular, weathered mass of 48.7 kg was found in 1931 by a workman who was repairing the highway at the eastern base of Bear Lodge Mountains, 19 km northeast of Sundance, Crook County.” |
Beardsley | Kansas, USA | 1929 fall | OC-H | MetBull coordinates are 3 km SE of the settlement of Beardsley. |
Beaver | Oklahoma, USA | 1940 | OC-L | MetBull coordinates are 2 km SW of the center of the town of Beaver. “A single mass was found in use as a door-stop in the county jail in Beaver. It had been there for about 40 years.” |
Beaver Creek | British Columbia, Canada | 1893 fall | OC-H | 0.6 km W of a river presently named Beaver River. Could well have been named Mt. Fox (3200 m) or Mt. Dawson (3380 m), 6 km to the west. |
Beaver-Harrison | Utah, USA | 1979 | OC-L | 14.5 km NW of the town of Milford. “Found by J.E. Welsh on the surface of an alluvial fan at the abandoned Beaver-Harrison Mine.” |
Bechar 001 & 002 | Bechar, Algeria | 1998 | OC-H & OC-L | Two unpaired stones were found together in the Béchar Province. |
Beckett Nunatak 92600 & 92601 | Antarctica | 1992 | OC-L | Two possibly paired stones were found on blue ice <0.1 km from Beckett Nunatak, Transantarctic Mountains. |
Beddgelert | Wales, UK | 1949 fall | OC-H | MetBull coordinates are 0.54 km NNE of the Prince Llewelyn Hotel in the village of Beddgelert. BBC: “Reports from the time say many people in north Wales and Cheshire had seen a brilliant light travelling rapidly across the sky. At 1.45am a guest at the Prince Llewelyn [Hotel] heard a series of dull explosions, ending with a buzzing sound ‘like a light aeroplane’, which grew in intensity until it was suddenly replaced by the sound of shattering roof slates. The hotel manager was woken by his dog barking and heard a series of irregularly spaced bangs ‘like a naval broadside’, but then went back to sleep. The next morning, in an upstairs lounge, his wife found a jagged hole in the ceiling, with plaster and a dark-coloured stone about the size of a cricket ball [794 g] on the floor.” |
Beeler | Kansas, USA | 1924 | OC-LL | MetBull Coordinates are 10 km N of the community of Beeler (pop. ~50). |
Beenham | New Mexico, USA | 1937 | OC-L | Met Bull coordinates are 1.5 km W of former ranch settlement, now ghost town, of Beenham. |
Beer Bottle Pass | Nevada, USA | 1999 | OC-L | 5 km WSW of Beer Bottle Pass and 7 km NE of town of Primm. “An 8.9 g chondrite was found by John Gwilliam while he was hunting for meteorites on Roach Dry Lake.” |
CC = carbonaceous chondrite; Eucr = eucrite; E-L = enstatite chondrite, type L; Meso = mesosiderite; OC = ordinary chondrite, types H, L, and LL; Pall = pallasite