A Window Into the Early Solar System — Cut Open for You

Somewhere in the Sahara Desert, buried under sand and time, lay a rock that had been traveling through space for billions of years. Found near Guelmin, Morocco in 2024, Northwest Africa 17490 made its final journey into the hands of collectors. This 195-gram slice has been cut to reveal what no human eye had ever seen before: the pristine interior of an ancient LL4 chondrite, frozen in the moment of the solar system’s birth.

Hold it up to the light. The surface is alive with texture — hundreds of tiny chondrules, spherical droplets of molten rock that solidified in space over 4.5 billion years ago, each one a time capsule of the primordial nebula. Scattered among them, glinting metallic grains of FeNi alloys and sulfides, some armored in a shell of iron sulfide, tell the story of a world that never quite became a planet.

Why LL4 Chondrites Are Special

LL chondrites are among the least metallic of all ordinary chondrites — LL stands for Low iron, Low metal. They formed in the outer regions of the asteroid belt, farther from the Sun, and carry a distinct chemical fingerprint that sets them apart. Type 4 indicates the rock experienced mild thermal metamorphism, enough to begin recrystallizing its matrix while still preserving well-defined chondrules. The result is a specimen that sits at a perfect crossroads: primitive enough to show original solar system textures, mature enough to display beautiful structure.

Specimen Details

• Official Name: Northwest Africa 17490 (NWA 17490)
• Classification: Ordinary Chondrite — LL4
• This piece: Slice — 195 g
• Dimensions: 142 × 93 × 9 mm
• Total known mass: 2.7 kg
• Year found: 2024, purchased from a dealer in Guelmin, Morocco
• Approved: 18 September 2025 — Meteoritical Bulletin MB 114 (2025)

Scientific Data

• Olivine: Fa27.5 ± 0.5 mol% (range Fa26.7–29.3, n=34)
• Low-Ca pyroxene: Fs20.9 ± 5.4 mol% (n=43)
• High-Ca pyroxene: En48.0–67.3 / Fs19.3–25.5 / Wo8.0–30.7 (n=7)
• Plagioclase: Ab71.6 ± 17.5 / Or4.1 ± 4.5 (n=21)
• Kamacite: Ni = 2.7–6.6 wt% (n=3)
• Taenite: Ni = 37.6–48.1 wt% (n=3)
• Sulfide: Pyrrhotite, S = 39.8–41.4 wt%, Ni up to 3.6 wt% (n=11)
• Chromite: #Cr = 0.89–0.90 (n=4)
• Note: σ-Fs (mol%) = 5.4 — consistent with LL group classification

Petrography

Chondritic texture with well-defined chondrules set in a fine-grained matrix scattered with mineral clasts and large (up to 500 μm) globular to rounded opaque aggregates of FeNi alloys and sulfides. Many chondrules display an armored texture, bordered by sulfide and FeNi rims. Opaques show weathering, with partial to total replacement by Fe-oxy/hydroxides — a hallmark of terrestrial residence in an arid desert environment.

Provenance & Authenticity

Officially registered with the Meteoritical Society and published in Meteoritical Bulletin MB 114 (2025). Purchased from a reputable dealer in Guelmin, Morocco. This slice comes from a 2.7 kg total mass find, making individual pieces genuinely collectible. Ships with full provenance documentation.