Lot 49
Sikhote-Alin
The Robert Elliott Meteorite Collection
Auction: 18 August 2009 at 15:00 BST
£275
Description
Etched half individual (shrapnel)
Dimensions
785g, 11 x 5.5 x 5.5cm
Footnote
Sikhote-Alin (Siberia, Russia) (IIB), Coarsest Octahedrite (iron) - fell 12th February 1947
A massive iron meteoroid encountered our atmosphere at 10:38am on the morning of February 12th 1947 with spectacular results. Detonating very low in the atmosphere, the meteor dramatically blew itself apart in a violent explosion. Luckily, this event occurred over a remote part of Siberia, and remains the largest witnessed fall of iron meteorites in recorded history, producing a total of 106 craters in the dense Siberian forest. A famous fall of meteorites, widely reported, commemorated and remembered.