Or Tunisia! Most people will be aware that Luke Skywalker's home planet (in the Star Wars films) is called Tataouine. Probably fewer people realise that it's a real place: not in a distant galaxy, but in Tunisia. Many of the desert scenes were filmed in the town and it has become a bit of a tourist destination (when the volatile politics of the region allow!)
I first became aware of Tatahouine a while before Luke, Leia and Darth Vader first appeared in cinemas: it was the location of a historical meteorite fall in June, 1931. Large numbers of small, greenish stones were seen falling around the town. On examination, these were determined to be diogenites - achondritic meteorites from beneath the surface of the asteroid Vesta.
Whenever I handle these attractive items (or other HED meteorites from Vesta) I reflect on the cataclysmic impact that hurled the material into space, ultimately arriving here on Earth. To use a cliche: if only they could talk!
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