* Astronomy

A new dense collection area (DCA) named Yucca is being used to name meteorites in the Franconia area of Mohave County in western Arizona. While many of the recovered meteorites may belong to one fall colloquially called the Franconia strewnfield, recent research shows the presence of multiple overlapping falls (Hutson et al., 2013). The Yucca DCA incorporates and replaces two smaller DCAs (Buck Mountains, Sacramento Wash). This change is being made to allow meteorites that are being found within and outside of the two previous DCAs to be given the same DCA root name. Fourteen previously named meteorites from this area will retain their names but be given Yucca xxx synonyms, where xxx is a number that reflects the sequence in which meteorites were named. New meteorites will continue this sequence as they are assigned.
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