Orgueil (meteorite)

Orgueil is a scientifically important carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell in southwestern France in 1864.

History

It fell on May 14, 1864, a few minutes after 20:00 local time, near Orgueil in southern France. About 20 stones fell over an area of several square miles. A specimen of the meteorite was analyzed that same year by François Stanislaus Clöez, professor of chemistry at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, who focused on the organic matter found in this meteorite. He wrote that it contained carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and its composition was very similar to peat from the Somme valley or to the lignite of Ringkohl near Kassel. An intense scientific discussion ensued, continuing into the 1870s, as to whether the organic matter might have a biological origin.

Composition and classification

Orgueil is one of five known meteorites belonging to the CI chondrite group (see meteorites classification), this being the largest (14 kilograms (31 lb)). This group is remarkable for having a composition that is essentially identical to that of the sun, excluding gaseous elements like hydrogen and helium.