A class of calcium-rich achondrite meteorite; also known as plagioclase–hypersthene achondrites. They are named after the English chemist Edward Charles Howard (1774–1816). The howardites are breccias whose texture resembles that of the breccias found in the lunar regolith, and were apparently formed on the surface of their parent body by impact processes. Most of the fragments found in howardites resemble eucrite and diogenite material. Along with the eucrites and diogenites, the howardites are members of the HED (howardite, eucrite, diogenite) group of meteorites and are thought to be fragments of the asteroid Vesta. The howardites are apparently related to the stony-iron mesosiderites. See also basaltic achondrite.