The most amazing meteorites (14 photos)

27 January 2025
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Category: story, space, 0+

Not all “stones from the sky” are stone - there are also iron ones (more precisely, iron-nickel ones). True, there are only 5 percent of them, but they are preserved much better than stone meteorites. And they played a huge role in the history of technology and civilization!





In many ancient languages, iron is called "star metal"; An analysis of archaeological finds, as well as fairy tales, traditions and legends shows that for the first time people became acquainted with meteorite iron.



Ancient walrus tusk harpoon with meteorite iron blade





Ancient figurine made of meteorite iron

And such iron was extremely highly valued: in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, scientists found thousands of gold objects - and only one dagger made of meteorite iron.



Dagger with meteorite iron blade from the tomb of Tutankhamun

Meteoric iron, by the way, is distinguished by high purity, and the quality was significantly superior to the iron obtained from ore by our distant ancestors.



A Tibetan sculpture (24 cm high and weighing 10.6 kg) of the Buddhist deity Vaishravana, carved in the 11th century from a fragment of an iron meteorite that fell to Earth about 15 thousand years ago.

Willamette meteorite

This huge (weighing more than 15 tons!) iron meteorite was found by the Clackamas American Indians (Oregon). For a long time they worshiped this meteorite; in their language they called the meteorite “Tomanovos”, that is, “Moon Guest”. They considered the rainwater that accumulated in the recesses of the meteorite to be healing and even magical. The meteorite was later taken to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.



Willamette meteorite

Sikhote-Alin meteorite

On February 12, 1947, a meteorite fell in the Sikhote-Alin mountains in the far east of the Russian Federation. More precisely, the meteorite fell into pieces at a high altitude, after which real “iron rain” fell on the ground. Scientists managed to collect over 3 thousand iron fragments with a total mass of more than 25 tons, and the heaviest fragment weighs almost 2 tons! Many fragments of this meteorite have not yet been found - scientists believe that the total mass of the “iron rain” ranged from 60 to 100 tons!



A fragment of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite

Toluca Meteorite

And this iron rain occurred over 10 thousand years ago in the place where the city of Jikipilco is now located, near Toluca (Mexico). Local Indians specifically looked for fragments of this meteorite and made a variety of tools and weapons from them. The Spanish conquistadors noticed the unusual fragments of “heavenly iron” in 1776. The total mass of meteorite fragments is estimated by scientists at 3 tons.



Toluca meteorite fragment

Goba meteorite

This is the largest meteorite found by humans, as well as the largest naturally occurring iron ingot. Astronomers claim that it fell to Earth about 80 thousand years ago, in Namibia (Africa). The meteorite was found in 1920 while plowing a field at Goba West Farm. The mass of this giant piece of iron is approximately 60 tons.



Goba meteorite

Pallas iron

This is the first stone-iron meteorite (pallasite) discovered by scientists. The weight of this meteorite is over 700 kilograms, and it was found in 1749, two hundred kilometers from Krasnoyarsk. A local blacksmith found an unusual block. For more than 20 years it lay where it was found, until in 1772 the find was examined by academician Peter Pallas, who was in those parts with an expedition. On his orders, the “stone” was sent to St. Petersburg, to the Kunstkamera.



Pallas iron

Meteorite Imilak

This is probably the most beautiful meteorite found by people. It was found in Chile, in the Atacama Desert, in 1822. This meteorite belongs to the class of iron-stones (pallasites): large olivine crystals are fused into the iron “skeleton”; When exposed to light, you get amber-yellow “windows” in the iron “wall.” The fragments of this meteorite (its total weight is estimated by astronomers at about 1 ton) are very highly valued by collectors.



Meteorite Imilak

Peekskill meteorite

This meteorite is a living illustration of the saying “anything can happen in the world.” On October 9, 1992, a girl named Michelle Knapp was sitting in her room drinking tea when she heard a very strong bang from the street. Imagine her surprise when she saw that a real stone meteorite weighing almost 13 kilograms had crashed into her Chevrolet Malibu car! Thousands of people saw the meteorite fall. The car was, of course, damaged - but at the same time it became a completely unique scientific exhibit! And Michelle sold the meteorite itself for 50 thousand dollars, so she had more than enough to buy a new car...



Peekskill meteorite

Chelyabinsk meteorite

And this stone meteorite fell quite recently, on February 15, 2013. This meteorite is remarkable because for the first time the fall of a meteorite was captured on video, and immediately on thousands of CCTV cameras and car recorders. This allowed scientists to very accurately calculate the flight path of the meteorite. When a meteorite exploded at an altitude of over 20 kilometers, a shock wave was formed, which broke the windows in many houses. Fortunately, no one was killed; about a hundred people were injured by broken glass.



The fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite

The largest fragment of this meteorite, raised by scientists from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul, weighs 570 kilograms; the total mass of the Chelyabinsk meteorite is estimated at approximately 11 thousand tons.



Fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite

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