TRAVIS COUNTY (a) A MASSIVE COMPLETE SLICE OF A TEXAN METEORITEChondrite – H5

Travis County meteorites found their way into scientific literature when Dr. R. T. Hill of the University of Texas received a 2.5 kg fragmentary mass that he donated to the Smithsonian in 1889. The fragment originated from a ranch in Travis County, home to the state capitol of Austin as well as the university where he worked. Nearly forty years later, celebrated meteorite hunter Oscar Monnig met Dr. Hill and was able to trace the specimen donated to the Smithsonian to the Sunset Ranch in Leander, Texas. Unfortunately, just where the meteorite was found had been long forgotten, so Monnig organized a search of the area and soon located numerous additional masses totaling more than 100 kg. All were believed to have originated from the same event, but in 1995 it was determined — ironically by another Smithsonian researcher — that about 20% of the specimens were of a different meteorite that just happened to fall in the same area and were thus given the name “Travis County (b).”