Name: Gao-Guenie
Classification: H5 Chondrite
Witnessed Fall: March 5, 1960
Location: Gao, Burkina Faso

History:  

Gao-Guenie fell in Burkina Faso on March 5, 1960 at 17:00 (local time). After three separate detonations, several thousands of stones rained down over an area of about 70 km². The sound of the fall was heard as far as Ouagadougou, which is 100 km away. Eyewitnesses said that some trees were broken and henhouses destroyed. The largest stones recovered weigh up to 10 kg.

There was initially some confusion as to whether there had been two distinct falls a month apart in Burkina Faso, but specimens collected using both names are exactly the same material.

Gao-Guenie, new name With the recent paper by Bourot-Denise et al. (1998), the Meteorite Nomenclature Committee has decided that a new, collective name, Gao-Guenie, will be bestowed upon all meteorites formerly identified as either Gao (Upper Volta) (frequently truncated to Gao) or Guenie. It had been reported that two meteorite showers occurred one month apart in 1960 in the country now known as Burkina Faso. But the new work confirms long-held suspicions that the two meteorites are indistinguishable from each other and that there was most likely only one fall (1960 March 5).  The confusion about this meteorite has been compounded by the fact that new stones continue to be found ~40 years after the fall and are given arbitrarily one or the other name. Henceforth, the official name for all meteorites from this shower will be Gao-Guenie, with the names Gao (Upper Volta) and Guenie as recognized synonyms.
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3.47 gram individual


5.1 gram individual