South Australian Museum

A museum whose meteorites include Murnpeowie, a 1.1-tonne iron with a sculpted, thumbprinted surface.

Key facts

Where

Adelaide, Australia

Kind

Museum

Visiting

Public galleries

The South Australian Museum in Adelaide holds the state's collection of meteorites, many of them found in the deserts and pastoral country of the outback.

Its most striking specimen is Murnpeowie, an iron of about 1,140 kilograms found in 1909 in the far north of South Australia. Its surface is covered with deep, smooth hollows called regmaglypts, which formed as hot air ate into the metal during its flight, and it is one of the finest examples of this sculpting anywhere. Murnpeowie belongs to the uncommon IC group of irons.

Highlights

• Murnpeowie 1.1-tonne sculpted iron Iron, IC

Related pages

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