Nakhla, 1911: a rock from Mars
One of only five Martian meteorites seen to fall.
On 28 June 1911, around 40 stones fell near El Nakhla el Baharia, east of Alexandria in Egypt, totalling about 10 kg. A local story says one stone killed a dog, but no remains were ever found and the tale cannot be checked.
Decades later, scientists realised that Nakhla and a handful of related meteorites were volcanic rocks far younger than most meteorites, and that gas trapped in some of them matched the Martian atmosphere measured by the Viking landers. Nakhla is a Martian rock, about 1.3 billion years old, blasted off Mars by an impact around 11 million years ago.
It gave its name to the nakhlites, one of the main groups of Martian meteorites. In 1999 NASA scientists reported microscopic features inside Nakhla that some thought could be linked to life; most researchers think they formed without life.
Only five Martian meteorites have been seen to fall: Chassigny (1815), Shergotty (1865), Nakhla (1911), Zagami (1962) and Tissint (2011).
In the catalogue
- Nakhla Martian (nakhlite), Egypt, 1911 · 10 kg