Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001) is a fragment of a Martian meteorite that was found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica on December 27, 1984, by a team of American meteorite hunters from the ANSMET project. Like other members of the shergottite–nakhlite–chassignite (SNC) group of meteorites, ALH84001 is thought to have originated on Mars. However, it does not fit into any of the previously discovered SNC groups. Its mass upon discovery was 1.93 kilograms (4.3 lb).
Meteorite fragment ALH84001
ALH84001 on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
Electron microscopy revealed chain structures resembling living organisms in meteorite fragment ALH84001
A Martian meteorite is a rock that formed on Mars, was ejected from the planet by an impact event, and traversed interplanetary space before landing on Earth as a meteorite. As of September 2020, 277 meteorites had been classified as Martian, less than half a percent of the 72,000 meteorites that have been classified. The largest complete, uncut Martian meteorite, Taoudenni 002, was recovered in Mali in early 2021. It weighs 14.5 kilograms and is on display at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum.
Martian meteorite EETA79001, shergottite
Martian meteorite NWA 7034, nicknamed "Black Beauty," weighs approximately 320 g (11 oz).
NWA 6963, a shergottite found in Morocco, September 2011.
Nakhla meteorite's two sides and its inner surfaces after breaking it