The Ellerslie Meteorite: description and correction to historical find site

Abstract

The 10.2 kg Ellerslie meteorite was donated to the National Museum of Victoria in May 1905 by Mr Henry Crawford, who informed the curator at that time that it had been found on the Ellerslie Estate in August 1900. The Ellerslie Estate, which Mr Crawford co-owned, is some 40 km east of Enngonia in northern New South Wales, adjacent to the Queensland border. In an unexplained historical error, the official find site for the Ellerslie meteorite has been recorded as “Tego, Maranoa, Queensland” in the 2000 Catalogue of Meteorites. This paper provides the first formal description of the meteorite, confirming it as an L5 ordinary chondrite showing mild shock features. It also investigates the source of the error in the historical record of the find site.