Saint-Aubin

The Saint-Aubin meteorite is a large iron meteorite discovered in the Saint-Aubin region of France. It belongs to the class IIIAB group of iron meteorites, which classifies it as a meteorite with a high iron-nickel content. It is estimated to have hit the Earth approximately 55 000 years ago.

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Saint-Aubin was discovered in 1968 during agricultural work when a farmer came across a large piece of ferrous material. Subsequently, further excavations were carried out at the site and more fragments were found. It was only in 2018 that an advanced search using modern metal detectors led to the discovery of many more fragments. So far, several large pieces have been found, including the two largest, weighing 472 kg and 177 kg, along with many smaller fragments. The total weight found is more than 6 tonnes, making Saint-Aubin one of the largest iron meteorites found in France.

Saint-Aubin is an iron meteorite with a high nickel and gold content but a low iridium content. After cutting and etching, this meteorite shows very attractive Widmanstätten patterns. It also contains minerals such as sarcopside or graftonite and up to 6 cm long needles of schreibersite. In addition, Saint-Aubin may show signs of shock structures such as Neumann lines and shock "crosshatched" kamacite.