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Lunar Meteorites List
This page provides a reference overview of recognized lunar meteorites and their scientific importance. Lunar meteorites represent genuine samples of the Moon found on Earth, and together they reveal the remarkable diversity of lunar crustal, volcanic, brecciated, and regolith materials beyond the limited Apollo and Luna landing sites.
Explore available lunar meteorites
What Is a Lunar Meteorites List?
A lunar meteorites list is a reference overview of meteorites officially recognized as having originated from the Moon. Such a list is useful not only for identifying individual lunar meteorites, but also for understanding the diversity of lunar lithologies represented among specimens recovered on Earth.
Lunar meteorites are rare because they represent only a very small fraction of all known meteorites. Each recognized specimen contributes to the broader scientific picture of the Moon by sampling regions and lithologies not directly visited by the Apollo or Luna missions.
Why Lunar Meteorites Are Important
Lunar meteorites are of exceptional scientific significance because they are genuine pieces of the Moon naturally delivered to Earth by impact processes. They provide direct evidence of lunar crust formation, mare volcanism, regolith development, and repeated impact reworking across a much broader range of terrains than mission-returned samples alone.
As a group, lunar meteorites form one of the most important sources of extraterrestrial material available for the study of another planetary body.
What a Lunar Meteorites List Reveals
A reference list of lunar meteorites is not simply a catalog of names. It reveals the growing diversity of recognized lunar lithologies, including feldspathic highland rocks, mare basalts, regolith breccias, impact melt breccias, noritic materials, troctolitic lithologies, and gabbroic components.
As more lunar meteorites are classified, the list reflects the expanding geological picture of the Moon and helps place individual specimens within a broader scientific context.
Recognized Types of Lunar Meteorites
The lunar meteorites recognized to date represent a wide range of compositional and petrographic types. These include:
- feldspathic highland breccias,
- anorthositic and noritic highland rocks,
- troctolitic and gabbroic lithologies,
- mare basalts and related volcanic materials,
- regolith breccias,
- impact melt breccias,
- mixed or polymict lunar meteorites containing several lithologies in a single specimen.
This diversity shows that lunar meteorites are not a single uniform category, but a complex family of rocks sampling multiple geological environments on the Moon.
Pairings, Fragments, and Individual Meteorites
When reading any lunar meteorites list, it is important to distinguish between officially recognized meteorites and paired fragments. Some stones found separately may in fact belong to the same original fall or terrestrial find event. For this reason, the total number of recognized lunar meteorites and the number of individual lunar source stones are not always the same.
This is one of the reasons why lunar meteorite reference lists must always be read with scientific caution and in the light of current classification work.
Classification and Official Recognition
Lunar meteorites are formally recognized through detailed laboratory analyses involving mineralogy, chemistry, petrography, and isotopic composition. Once approved, their names and classifications are recorded in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, which remains the main reference source for officially recognized meteorites.
A serious lunar meteorites list should therefore be understood as a scientific reference framework rather than a simple historical catalog.
Lunar Meteorites as a Scientific Resource
Beyond their rarity, lunar meteorites are essential because they extend the range of lunar materials available for study. They complement the Apollo and Luna collections by sampling terrains never directly visited and by preserving lithologies that help refine our understanding of lunar crustal evolution and impact history.
For this reason, a lunar meteorites list is valuable not only to collectors and enthusiasts, but also to researchers interested in the composition and geological history of the Moon.
Explore Lunar Meteorites
This page is intended as a reference overview of recognized lunar meteorites. To explore specimens selected for collectors, museums, and research institutions, please visit our main page on Lunar Meteorites.
e-mail: korotev@wustl.edu
Last revised: 14-Oct-2009
Besides their rarity, lunar meteorites are of major scientific interest, and importance because they originate from areas of the Moon that were not sampled by the Apollo or Luna missions. Most lunaites in our collections have been blasted from the lunar highlands that cover the far side of the Moon. Only a few lunar meteorites have their origin from the smooth lowlands, the maria of the near side, which served as the preferred landing sites for the Apollo missions. Three major types of lunaites have been sampled in form of meteorites thus far: anorthositic highland breccias (LUN A), lunar mare basalts (LUN B), and mingled breccias (LUN M) containing both, mare material, and highland rocks
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Frequently Asked Questions About Lunar Meteorites List
What is a lunar meteorites list?
A lunar meteorites list is a reference overview of meteorites officially recognized as originating from the Moon.
Are all lunar meteorites the same?
No. Lunar meteorites include many different lithologies such as feldspathic breccias, mare basalts, regolith breccias, noritic rocks, troctolitic materials, gabbroic lithologies, and melt breccias.
Why is a lunar meteorites list scientifically important?
It helps document the diversity of lunar materials found on Earth and places individual lunar meteorites within a broader geological and classification framework.
Does the number of lunar meteorites equal the number of separate lunar stones?
Not always. Some recognized meteorites are paired fragments belonging to the same original lunar stone, so scientific lists must be interpreted carefully.
Who officially recognizes lunar meteorites?
Lunar meteorites are officially recognized through classification work recorded in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database.
Where can I see available lunar meteorites?
You can explore available specimens on our main Lunar Meteorites page.