by Mary Lynroe Francisco
The National Museum of the Philippines received its first ever meteorite specimen, the Orconuma Meteorite donated by Mr. Aubrey Whymark from owners John Higgins and Jasper Spencer as a gift on July 8.
Orconuma Meteorite is one of the six listed meteorites from the Philippines in the Meteoritical Society’s Bulletin Database which is classified as an H3-4 chondrite.
The received space rock, weighing 160.17 grams and measuring 149x108x3 milimeter, is a portion of the 7.8 kilogram meteorite that fell on March 7, 2011, in Orconuma, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro.
The meteorite was discovered by farmers Fredo Manzano, Edgar Francisco, Sr., and Enrico Camacho Jr. who hid and stored the specimen for nine years.
The National Museum of the Philippines expressed its gratitude to Mr. Whymark, Mr. Higgins, and Mr. Spencer for the donated meteorite specimen which was formed in the earliest days of our solar system, about 4.6 billion years ago. – gb
