Space & Astronomy

Chelyabinsk meteor fragment recovered

By T.K. Randall
October 19, 2013 ·  7 comments

A 112.2g fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteor. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Svend Buhl / Meteorite Recon The meteor caused widespread damage and injuries when it exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia back in February of this year with more than 7,200 buildings damaged and 1,500 people wounded. Chunks of the meteor fell across the region including one piece that punched through the ice of Lake Chebarkul, prompting efforts by scientists to retrieve the fragment for study.

Divers spent the better part of a month hauling the 570kg piece of meteor up from the bottom of the lake, a feat that received a substantial amount of media attention. Rather embarrassingly the chunk crushed the scales and broke in to three pieces while it was being weighed, dampening the success of having recovered it intact."Some peculiarities characteristic of stone meteorites prove that it's a fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite," said Prof Sergei Zamozdra. "In all probability, it will rank among the top ten largest meteorites ever found."

The meteor is believed to have originated in the early solar system and dates back over 4.56 billion years.

Source: The Register | Comments (7)

Tags: Chelyabinsk, Meteorite