Hessle

Sweden
Fall, 1.1.1869

Chondrite H5
Complete specimens 137,8g and 10,5g

History:
Hessle is an ordinary (H5) chondrite that fell south of Uppsala, Sweden January 1, 1869, shortly after noon.  This was the first meteorite fall ever witnessed in Sweden, and was seen by a number of people as they were leaving church.

It was an overcast day in Hessle, so the bright meteor associated with the event was only seen from a distance, where conditions were clearer, however, the sonic boom and subsequent whistling were clearly noted.

Dr. Walter Flight, noted English chemist and member of the Royal Society, described the arrival of the Hessle meteorite in his 1875 work “History of Meteorites”: 

The noise accompanying the fall resembled heavy peals of thunder, followed by a rattling noise as of waggons [sic] at a gallop, and ending at first with a note like an organ tone, and then a hissing sound.

20 kg of the Hessle meteorite were recovered, including a piece that left a 3-4 inch hole in the shore ice of the frozen Lårstaviken Bay before bouncing up to land next to a fisherman.

Specimen Description:
A 137 gram complete individual with black fresh crust. Piece have three hand painted museum numbers on the specimen. Piece comes with 4 labels, three from the Museum of the University, Copenhagen and one from The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden. The piece is from Baron Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld a curator of Sweden meteorite collection and famous Arctic explorer. Copenhagen label is signed by the famous iron meteorite expert Buchwald.

A 10.5 gram individual  was originally obtained by David New in an exchange with the Swedish Museum of Natural History. Specimen comes with label from the Swedish Museum of Natural History and has a museum stamp on the meteorite.

Comments:
Provenance of the 137 gram specimen: The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden; The Museum of the University, Copenhagen. Piece is also listed in The Catalogue of meteorites in the Mineralogical Museum of the University, Copenhagen in years 1905 and 1964 catalogues

Provenance of the 10,5 gram specimen:The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden; The David New Collection, Anacortes, WA; The Frank Prochaska Collection, Everett, WA (1990), Mike Bandli collection, Tricollet collection.

References:
Metbull data base
www.historicmeteorites.com

Hessle