The Henbury iron meteorites were originally investigated during 1931 when an expedition by A.R. Alderman and Bedford discovered and documented 13 impact craters in the Northern Territory, Australia. The individual craters are thought to have formed around 5000 years ago when a large iron meteorite fragmented into pieces before impact. The craters have been eroded over time and several are now just shallow depressions.

Crater 7 from the West. The largest and a double crater. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Crater 7 from the North-East. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Crater 6. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Crater 7. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Crater 8. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Looking towards Craters 8 and 7. (Credit: Ted Brattstrom)
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Aerial view of the Henbury Crater Field. (Image provided by Ted Brattstrom)
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The Henbury meteorites themselves are very distinctive and unique with a beautiful ochre-red patina from the Australian outback soil. While some specimens are extremely well preserved, others have lain in more moisture prone areas and have very heavily weathered away to shale.

Some individuals which have been buried also tend to display very sharp, angular ridges making for some intriguing and beautiful shapes. Henbury is classified as a Medium Octahedrite, IIIAB and while the exact total weight of recovered specimens is unknown, it is thought to be approximately 2-3 tonnes. The original Henbury field photographs above have been kindly provided by Ted Brattstrom while the specimens below are part of the Meteorites Australia Collection.

Henbury (IIIAB) - 0.853kg Sculptured & Regmaglypted Individual (MA.06.0001).

Henbury (IIIAB) - 0.853kg Sculptured & Regmaglypted Individual (MA.06.0001).

Henbury (IIIAB) - 193.7g Sculptured & Regmaglypted Individual (MA.06.0055).
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Henbury (IIIAB) - 193.7g Sculptured & Regmaglypted Individual (MA.06.0055).
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