American Museum of Natural History

Home of Ahnighito, the 31-tonne Cape York iron, and the 15.5-tonne Willamette meteorite.

Key facts

Where

New York, United States

Kind

Museum

Visiting

Public galleries

The Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites at the American Museum of Natural History displays some of the largest meteorites anywhere. The heaviest is Ahnighito, the main mass of the Cape York iron from north-west Greenland. It weighs about 31 tonnes and rests on supports that go down to the bedrock of Manhattan. The explorer Robert Peary brought it to New York in 1897, with two smaller masses known as the Woman and the Dog, which the Inughuit had used for centuries as a source of iron.

The museum also owns Willamette, the largest meteorite found in the United States, an iron of about 15.5 tonnes found in Oregon in 1902. It is sacred to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community, and since 2000 an agreement has allowed tribal members to hold a ceremony with it each year.

The hall explains what meteorites reveal about the formation of the Solar System, and the museum's research collection holds thousands more specimens.

Highlights

• Cape York Ahnighito, about 31 tonnes Iron, IIIAB
• Willamette about 15.5 tonnes Iron, IIIAB

Related pages

Opening times, what is on display and access to research collections change over time, so check with the institution before you visit.