{"id":26673,"date":"2020-08-19T10:38:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T09:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=26673"},"modified":"2025-08-04T16:35:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:35:07","slug":"lunar-meteorite-nhm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/lunar-meteorite-nhm\/","title":{"rendered":"Large lunar meteorite at the NHM"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moon.jpg\" alt=\"The moon\" class=\"wp-image-26674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moon.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moon-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>A new addition to the Natural History Museum only arrived after a long journey of almost 400,000km: a chunk of moon rock that fell to earth as a lunar meteorite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The piece from the <em>Galb Inal<\/em> meteorite weighs close to 2kg<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On display in the world-class meteorite section of the museum (to be fair, you&#8217;d not expect it in the gallery of stuffed mammals)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Acquired through a kind donation in the will of Hatice Skarits<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a short <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">guided walking tour<\/a>* of the city<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"252\">Natural History Museum visitor tips<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Galb Inal meteorite<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moonmeteor.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moonmeteor.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moonmeteor-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moonmeteor-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/moonmeteor-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, C. Rittmannsperger)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pity the poor lunar meteorite, <em>Galb Inal<\/em>. One moment you&#8217;re a bit of moon rock minding your own business and enjoying the (drab) view. The next, some kind of impact event sends you flying off into space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moments later you&#8217;re hurtling toward earth to find yourself dumped unceremoniously in the Mauritanian countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The meteorite split into two on impact, with one half now residing in the Meteorite Hall of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"252\">Naturhistorisches Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At almost 2kg, this is one of the largest pieces of lunar rock on display to the public. The museum actually has another eleven in its possession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Incidentally, the other half of the <em>Galb Inal<\/em> suffered a less wholesome fate. It was cut into slices, which are now mostly found in private collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-content-type=\"product\" data-content-ids=\"976418,974071\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_Tech\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Research reveals that the original meteorite probably weighed something between 7kg and 23kg and may have been as large as 26cm in diameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of composition, what you see is a lunar breccia made of feldspar, with a shiny black, wind-polished surface, and containing fragments of rocks and minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of the material burned off in the atmosphere, of course, leaving just over 4kg to be found by nomads in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the rarity of the lunar rock (with only a few hundred similar examples on earth known to scientists), the museum has the generosity of Hatice Skarits (1930-2016) to thank for the acquisition: she made provision for part of her inheritance to be used for the purchase of a meteorite for the museum&#8217;s collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the meteorite<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Find your way to the Naturhistorisches Museum using the tips in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"252\">main article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once inside, head right to find the geology section. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-geology-dinosaurs-prehistory\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"840\">Meteorite gallery<\/a> (Hall 5) within contains hundreds of rarities and wonders from space, including the giant Knyahinya meteorite weighing almost 300kg and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/hraschina-meteorite\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"33847\">Hraschina meteorite<\/a> that started the collection back in the 18th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for some other special exhibits in the museum, albeit rather more terrestrial, keep going on this floor to eventually reach the exquisite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/gemstone-bouquet\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"18679\">bouquet of gems<\/a> and the paleolithic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/venus-von-willendorf\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"955\">Venus of Willendorf<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1pTjEiErU7xkYT2U7QbI7wgGEnSU\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new addition to the Natural History Museum only arrived after a long journey of almost 400,000km: a chunk of moon rock that fell to earth as a lunar meteorite. The Galb Inal meteorite (Photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, C. Rittmannsperger) Pity the poor lunar meteorite, Galb Inal. One moment you&#8217;re a bit of moon rock [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26673"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84988,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26673\/revisions\/84988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}