Chelyabinsk meteorite
| Chelyabinsk | |
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Fragments of the meteorite that were first discovered at Lake Chebarkul.
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| Type | Ordinary chondrite LL5 |
| Shock stage | S4 |
| Weathering grade | W0 (pristine) |
| Country | Russia |
| Region | Chelyabinsk Oblast |
| Coordinates | 54°57′19″N 60°19′36″E / 54.955146°N 60.326614°ECoordinates: 54°57′19″N 60°19′36″E / 54.955146°N 60.326614°E |
| Observed fall | Yes |
| Fall date | 15 February 2013, 09:20 YEKT (UTC+06:00) |
| Found date | 17 February 2013 |
| TKW | approximately 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) |
| Strewn field | Yes |
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The Chelyabinsk meteorite (Russian: Челябинск or Челябинский метеорит) is the fragmented remains of the large Chelyabinsk meteor of 15 February 2013 which reached the ground after the meteor's passage through the atmosphere. The descent of the meteor, visible as a brilliant superbolide in the morning sky, caused a series of shock waves that shattered windows, damaged approximately 7,200 buildings and left 1,500 people injured. The resulting fragments were scattered over a wide area.
The largest fragment had a total mass of 654 kg (1,442 lb) and was raised from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul on 16 October 2013.
The meteor and meteorite are named after Chelyabinsk Oblast, over which the meteor exploded. An initial proposal was to name the meteorite after Lake Chebarkul, where one of its major fragments impacted and made a 6-metre-wide hole in the frozen lake surface.
The meteorite has been classified as an LL5 ordinary chondrite. First estimates of its composition indicate about 10% of meteoric iron, as well as olivine and sulfides.
The impacting asteroid started to brighten up in the general direction of the Pegasus constellation, close to the East horizon where the Sun was starting to rise. The impactor belonged to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids.
The asteroid had an approximate size of 18 metres (59 ft) and a mass of about 9,100 metric tons (10,000 short tons) before it entered the denser parts of Earth's atmosphere and started to ablate. At an altitude of about 23.3 km (14.5 miles) the body exploded in an air burst. Meteorite fragments of the body landed on the ground.
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Wikipedia