Abstract:
The Bendegó meteorite, an iron and nickel mass weighting 5,360 kg, is the largest specimen in the Brazilian collection and holds a rich record of contributions to the meteoritic science. Its fnding in 1784 in the hinterland of Bahia State, its epic transportation to the National Museum (Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro) in the end of the XIX century, and its participation in the studies which lead to the chemical classifcation of the metallic meteorites in the 70´s, grant to this space visitor enough credibility to reinforce to the Brazilian geologic community the importance of those extraterrestrial samples, which are authentic records of the beginning of the solar system and early chemical differentiation processes of planets and asteroids. This paper presents new insights regarding the Bendegó historic, cosmic, geologic, petrologic and geochemical context and takes advantage from modern analytical methods, such as the instrumental neutron activation analysis, mass inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, and scanning electronic microscopy, to better characterize the properties of such a Fe-Ni mass which, someday, would be the core of a space object, big enough to experiment a chemical differentiation process.
Keywords:
Bendego; meteorite; meteoritic; Bahia; iron