Discover meteorites found in the country at the National Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibit
Life is full of magical moments and among those is witnessing a shooting star. Many of us had the chance of seeing it and whispered wishes and dreams we hope to come true, and others have yet to experience it. While it is called a shooting star, that chance encounter doesn’t really involve a star. Stars are floating celestial bodies made of gas. The shooting star, however, is a space rock that passes through our atmosphere and becomes a fireball that is known as a meteorite.
Throughout its history, the Philippines has been the landing spot of six meteorites. If you want to learn more about them, three of the six space rocks are now on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Manila City. On Oct. 11, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) unveiled its latest exhibition dubbed “Philippine Meteorites,” located at the Godofredo Alcasid Function Hall of the museum. The launch of the exhibit comes at a good moment as we celebrate Museums and Galleries Month and World Space Week.
The exhibition is now the new home of the Orconuma meteorite and the NMP’s newest pieces, the Pantar and Bondoc meteorites. Discovered by farmers Fredo Manzano, Edgar Francisco, Sr., and Enrico Camacho Jr., the Orconuma meteorite is the first-ever meteorite specimen acquired by the NMP. Last July, the space rock was donated by Aubrey Whymark from owners John Higgins and Jasper Spencer. Weighing 160.17 grams and measuring 149x108x3 milimeter, the showcased piece is part of the 7.8-kilogram meteorite that landed in Orconuma, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro on March 7, 2011.
The Bondoc meteorite was found in 1956 in a remote jungle in Quezon Province. Mistaken as an iron ore, the discovered rock was identified as a meteorite in 1959 by American meteoriticist Dr. Harvey H. Nininger. With its 888.6-kilogram weight, the Bondoc meteorite is the largest space rock found in the Philippines. According to the NMP, it is classified as a stony-iron meteorite, the rarest of its kind. The Pantar meteorite, on the other hand, was found in the town of Lanao del Norte in Mindanao on June 16, 1938. It is the fourth confirmed meteorite found in the country, and is classified as H5 chondrite and likely originated in the asteroid belt, as per the NMP.
Learn more about these space rocks at the “Philippine Meteorites” exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History, which is open from Tuesdays to Sundays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
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