Campo del Cielo Meteorite Specimens

Campo del Cielo Meteorite Fragments

Accession Number: 2025-CDC-MT-01
Object Type: Extraterrestrial material (iron meteorite fragments)
Date: ~4.5 billion years old (early Solar System formation)
Origin: Campo del Cielo strewn field, Argentina
Material: Iron-nickel alloy with trace minerals
Dimensions: Multiple small fragments; collectively housed in one container
Provenance: Recovered from known Campo del Cielo meteorite fall site; authenticated and curated as meteorite specimens
Acquisition: Mini Museum
Collection Status: Permanent Collection

What This Artifact Represents

Meteorites are among the oldest physical materials accessible to us, predating Earth itself. Cast off during the early formation of the Solar System, they are time capsules — fragments of space rocks that witnessed the birth, evolution, and dynamics of our cosmic neighborhood.

The Campo del Cielo (Spanish for Field of Heaven) meteorite fall is one of the most significant known in human history. Around 4,000–5,000 years ago, a large iron meteorite fragmented as it entered Earth’s atmosphere, scattering pieces across a wide area in what is now northern Argentina.

These iron-nickel fragments form a distinctive class of meteorite that not only helps scientists understand the early Solar System, but also connects us tangibly to the vast processes of cosmic evolution.

About This Specific Piece

This artifact consists of multiple fragments of the Campo del Cielo iron meteorite, collectively curated and displayed within a single container. While each fragment carries unique surface characteristics — from fusion crust to aerodynamic sculpting — they all derive from the same original meteoritic body and fall event.

Meteorites from Campo del Cielo are classified as IAB-sLH iron meteorites, meaning they originated from a parent body that experienced partial melting and segregation of iron and nickel. When they fell to Earth, they survived atmospheric entry largely intact as dense metallic pieces.

Because all fragments in this accession come from the same fall and share origin and classification, they are catalogued under a single accession number while still recognized as individual specimens within that lot.

Interpretive Note

Holding a piece of a meteorite is unlike touching any terrestrial rock. Its material formed under conditions far removed from Earthly geology — in the furnaces of cosmic collisions, in the molten cores of asteroids, and in the silent drift of space over billions of years.

These fragments remind us that our planet exists in a vast, dynamic system of bodies — planets, moons, asteroids, and debris — each shaped by forces that dwarf human timescales.

As a group, these Campo del Cielo pieces bridge two realms: the fiery entry into Earth’s atmosphere and the quiet permanence of ancient cosmic matter. They invite us to consider not just where we are, but where we came from — from stardust to planetary life.