حِجَارَةٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ

فِي مَدِينَةِ أَكَادِيرَ، فِي الْمَغْرِبِ، مَتْحَفٌ خَاصٌّ بِالنَّيَازِكِ. وَهُوَ فِي جَامِعَةِ ابْنِ زُهْرٍ. وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ مَتْحَفٍ مِنْ هَذَا النَّوْعِ فِي الْمَغْرِبِ، وَفِي إِفْرِيقِيَا وَالْعَالَمِ الْعَرَبِيِّ. فَمَا النَّيْزَكُ؟ النَّيْزَكُ حَجَرٌ يَأْتِي مِنَ الْفَضَاءِ، وَيَسْقُطُ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ. وَهُوَ يُشْبِهُ الْحِجَارَةَ الْعَادِيَّةَ أَحْيَانًا، لَكِنَّ أَصْلَهُ مِنْ خَارِجِ الْأَرْضِ. لِذَلِكَ، يَأْتِي إِلَى الْمَتْحَفِ نَاسٌ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَعَلَّمُوا كَيْفَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ. مِنْهُمْ طُلَّابٌ، وَمُعَلِّمُونَ، وَبَاحِثُونَ، وَنَاسٌ يُحِبُّونَ الِاكْتِشَافَ. فِي الْمَتْحَفِ، تَرَى حِجَارَةً مُخْتَلِفَةً: كَبِيرَةً وَصَغِيرَةً، سَوْدَاءَ وَرَمَادِيَّةً. وَبِجَانِبِ كُلِّ حَجَرٍ بِطَاقَةٌ. عَلَى الْبِطَاقَةِ اسْمُ النَّيْزَكِ، وَالْمَكَانُ الَّذِي وَجَدُوهُ فِيهِ. وَعَلَيْهَا أَيْضًا وَزْنُهُ، وَعَدَدُ قِطَعِهِ، وَصُورَتُهُ. فَتَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ تَعْرِفَ: أَيْنَ وَجَدُوا هَذَا الْحَجَرَ؟ وَكَمْ وَزْنُهُ؟ وَمِنْ أَيْنَ جَاءَ؟ مِنَ الْفَضَاءِ! وَيُسَمِّي بَعْضُ النَّاسِ النَّيْزَكَ «هَدِيَّةَ السَّمَاءِ». وَالْمَتْحَفُ يَحْفَظُ هَذِهِ الْهَدَايَا، وَيَعْرِضُهَا لِلزُّوَّارِ. وَفِي الْمَغْرِبِ، يَجِدُ النَّاسُ نَيَازِكَ كَثِيرَةً فِي الصَّحْرَاءِ. مَثَلًا، فِي مَنَاطِقِ طَاطَا، وَأَرْفُودَ، وَزَاكُورَةَ، وَالسِّمَارَةِ. وَكَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ هُنَاكَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْثِ عَنِ النَّيَازِكِ، وَيَعِيشُونَ مِنْ هَذَا الْعَمَلِ. وَهُمْ يَعْرِفُونَهَا جَيِّدًا، بَعْدَ سَنَوَاتٍ طَوِيلَةٍ مِنَ الْخِبْرَةِ.

In the city of Agadir, in Morocco, there is a museum just for meteorites. It is at Ibn Zohr University. It is the first museum of this kind in Morocco, and in Africa and the Arab world. So what is a meteorite? A meteorite is a stone that comes from space and falls to Earth. It sometimes looks like ordinary stones, but it comes from outside the Earth. So people come to the museum who want to learn how to recognise one. Among them are students, teachers, researchers, and people who love discovering things. In the museum, you see different stones: big and small, black and grey. Next to each stone there is a label. On the label is the meteorite’s name, and the place where it was found. It also has its weight, the number of its pieces, and its photo. So you can find out: where was this stone found? And how much does it weigh? And where did it come from? From space! Some people call a meteorite “a gift from the sky”. The museum keeps these gifts safe and shows them to visitors. In Morocc