Thousands of meteorites fall to the Earth every year, but most are lost, either burning up in the atmosphere or landing and going unnoticed. If a meteorite does survive its landing, it can best be found on a large flat piece of land with uniform terrain, such as Dhofar's vast desert in the southwest of Oman. Hundreds of meteorites specimens have been uncovered here, including Dhofar 908. This meteorite's origins is from a far more barren desert: the lunar surface.

Lunar meteorites like Dhofar 1084 were formed from massive impacts to the lunar surface that ejected material out into space, eventually falling to Earth. These samples can tell us a lot about the Moon and how it formed. In the case of Dhofar 1084, the meteorite contains crystalized forms of material from the lunar magma ocean that once stretched across the surface of the Moon.

This specimen is a piece of the Dhofar 1084 meteorite, found in 2003, a small piece of space rock that's traveled all the way from the Moon.

The specimen comes in a protected in a gem jar inside a glass-topped riker display case. Each specimen comes complete with an informational card that also serves as certificate of authenticity. You can explore more meteorites in the collection below, including other lunar samples and more. These specimens also pair well with our Lunar Highlands Pendant listed below!

Dhofar 1084 is a lunar meteorite found in 2003, named for the Dhofar region of southern Oman, where it was discovered. It is a feldspathic meteorite with high levels of aluminum and other refractory elements, an elemental group of metals highly resistant to heat and wear.

The meteorite can also be identified from high levels of oxygen, aluminum, and titanium. This chemical composition suggests Dhofar 1084’s source is the lunar crust, from which it has taken an incredible journey through outer space to the surface of our own planet.

Classified as an anorthositic fragmental breccia, Dhofar 1084 appears dark grey with a slightly glassy exterior from the fusion crust that formed when it experienced the heat of atmospheric entry. Terrestrial weathering has left impressions of gypsum, calcite and celestite along the exterior of the meteorite. 

Based on shared similarities in mineralogical composition, Dhofar 1084 is paired with Dhofar 490, found nearby in 2001. As with similar lunar meteorites, it also shows the presence of pyroxene and olivine embedded in the feldspar matrix and similarities to lunar samples tested after the Apollo missions.

The meteorite’s origins being the lunar surface is further evidenced by the presence of impact glass and brecciated fragments. This is the residue from the original meteorite impact that dislodged the lunar material that became Dhofar 1084. 

The presence of this material allows scientists not only to study the surface of the Moon but the history of the impacts that have scarred it, including the Late Heavy Bombardment, four billion years ago.

Over billions of years, the outer layer of the Moon has taken a beating from meteorite impacts of its own. Without an atmosphere like on Earth, these impactors do not burn up or break apart which causes major damage to the surface. The pieces of rock and dust that are scattered after an impact are known as the regolith, and over time this material has covered the entire surface of the moon in a layer of loose sediments. 

Most meteorites from the Moon are made up of the lunar regolith, which can be ejected out of the Moon’s gravitational pull during a particularly strong impact event. This material is then drawn into Earth’s gravity and becomes a meteorite of its own.

Lunar meteorites like Dhofar 1084 play an important role in understanding the formation of the Moon and other bodies in our solar system. The minerals found within them suggest the presence of igneous rocks, which is evidence of the Moon’s formation through an impact event on Earth. Such a powerful impactor would have given off enough heat to create lava oceans, which would then cool into the rocks found in meteorites today.