Orgueil is a scientifically important

carbonaceous chondrite Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites are a class of chondritic meteorites comprising at least 8 known groups and many ungrouped meteorites. They include some of the most primitive known meteorites. The C chondrites represent only a small prop ...

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

that fell in southwestern France in 1864.

History

The Orgueil meteorite fell on May 14, 1864, a few minutes after 20:00 local time, near

Orgueil Orgueil (; oc, Orgulh) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. History Orgueil has existed for more than 1000 years. It was first mentioned in the 9th century, when Orgueil was part of Saint- ...

in southern France. About 20 stones fell over an area of 5-10 square kilometres. A specimen of the meteorite was analyzed that same year by François Stanislaus Clöez, professor of chemistry at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, who focused on the organic matter found in this meteorite. He wrote that it contained carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and its composition was very similar to peat from the Somme valley or to the lignite of Ringkohl near Kassel. An intense scientific discussion ensued, continuing into the 1870s, as to whether the organic matter might have a biological origin.

Curation and Distribution

Orgueil specimens are in curation by bodies around the world. Given the large mass, samples are in circulation for nondestructive (and with sufficient justification, destructive) study and test. ''Source: Grady, M. M. Catalogue of Meteorites, 5th Edition, Cambridge University Press''

Composition and classification

Orgueil is one of five known meteorites belonging to the CI chondrite group (see meteorites classification), and is the largest (). This group has a composition that is essentially identical to that of the sun, excluding gaseous elements like hydrogen and helium. Notably though, the Orgueil meteor is highly enriched in (volatile) mercury - undetectable in the solar photosphere, and this is a major driver of the "mercury paradox" that mercury abundances in meteors do not follow its volatile nature and isotopic ratios based expected behaviour in the solar nebula. Because of its extraordinarily primitive composition and relatively large mass, Orgueil is one of the most-studied meteorites. One notable discovery in Orgueil was a high concentration of isotopically anomalous xenon called "xenon-HL". The carrier of this gas is extremely fine-grained diamond dust that is older than the Solar System itself, known as presolar grains. In 1962, Nagy et al. announced the discovery of 'organised elements' embedded in the Orgueil meteorite that were purportedly biological structures of extraterrestrial origin. These elements were subsequently shown to be either

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

(including that of ragwort) and fungal

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s (Fitch & Anders, 1963) that had contaminated the sample, or crystals of the mineral olivine.

Seed capsule hoax

In 1965, a fragment of the Orgueil meteorite, kept in a sealed glass jar in Montauban since its discovery, was found to have a seed capsule embedded in it, whilst the original glassy layer on the outside remained apparently undisturbed. Despite great initial excitement, the seed capsule was shown to be that of a European

rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

, glued into the fragment and camouflaged using coal dust. The outer "fusion layer" was in fact glue. Whilst the perpetrator is unknown, it is thought that the hoax was aimed at influencing 19th century debate on spontaneous generation by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.

Claim of fossils

Richard B. Hoover Richard Brice Hoover (born January 3, 1943) is a physicist who has authored 33 volumes and 250 papers on astrobiology, extremophiles, diatoms, solar physics, X-ray/EUV optics and meteorites. He holds 11 U.S. patents and was 1992 NASA Inventor of ...

of NASA has claimed that the Orgueil meteorite contains fossils, some of which are similar to known terrestrial species. Hoover has previously claimed the existence of fossils in the Murchison meteorite. NASA has formally distanced itself from Hoover's claims and his lack of expert peer-reviews.

References

External links

The Orgueil meteorite from The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight
* {{Authority control Meteorites found in France Astrobiology Hoaxes in science Hoaxes in France 1864 in France 1860s in science