Norton County (meteorite)
aubrite, brecciated meteorite
Norton County is an Aubrite meteorite that fell in 1948 in Kansas, United States.
History
After a brilliant fireball and a loud noise, a very large shower of meteorites fell over a large area of Norton County (Kansas) and Furnas County (Nebraska) on February 18, 1948. On April 28, a research team from the University of New Mexico set out to identify and recover pieces of the meteorite. Everything that they recovered was either donated to or sold to the university.
Composition and classification
Norton County is a Ca-poor aubrite fragmental breccia.
Specimens
The main mass (about 1,070 kilograms (2,360 lb)) is the center piece of the meteorite display at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Norton County (meteorite)” is aubrite, brecciated meteorite. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Norton, County and meteorite, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “aubrite, brecciated meteorite” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4045484. Authority coordinates are 39.683, -99.867. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Norton County (meteorite) primary sources, Norton County (meteorite) archive and Norton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Norton County (meteorite)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.