Lunar Meteorite Rabt Sbayta 007

RABT SBAYTA 007  

Lunar feldspathic breccia (lunar meteorite)  

Formed approximately 4 billion years ago  

Southern Morocco, 2017

1.917 kilograms. 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 4 1/16 inches (14.6 x 8.9 x 10.3 cm)

For a 360-spin view of the meteorite, click here.

Rabt Sbayta 007 is a piece of the Moon. Found in southern Morocco in 2017, it originated in the feldspar-rich highlands of the lunar surface — the ancient, cratered terrain that covers much of the far side of the Moon and the majority of its southern hemisphere. The original stone weighed 4.430 kilograms; slices were removed for scientific study and separate sale, leaving the present main mass of 1.917 kilograms, with one beautifully polished cut surface revealing the specimen's internal geology.

This particular specimen is a feldspar-rich breccia composed of multiple broken rock and mineral fragments produced over 4 billion years ago by repeated asteroid impacts onto the Moon. The diverse fragments, or clasts, became cemented together during burial and recrystallisation within the lunar highlands crust — a record of the bombardment that shaped the early Solar System, preserved in the fabric of the stone itself.

To hold Rabt Sbayta 007 is to hold a surviving fragment of that process: a piece of the Moon's highland crust, assembled over geological time and delivered to Earth by the same forces that formed it.