Sikhote-Alin Meteorite: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

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Sikhote-Alin Meteorite

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	Topics Sikhote-Alin Meteorite Topic Home Sikhote-Alin is an ironIron meteorite Iron meteorites consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys. ... meteoriteFacts About Meteorite A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives its impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed.... fell in 1947 on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in. This fall is among the largest meteorite showers in recent history. History At around 10:30 am on February 12, 1947, eyewitnesses in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, PrimoryePrimorye Primorye may refer to:*Primorye, informal name of Primorsky Krai, Russia... , Russia, observed a large bolideBolide The term bolide can refer to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fi... brighter than the SunSun \|+ The Sun \|+\|-\| colspan="2" align="center" \| \|-... that came out of the north and descended at an angle of about 41 degrees. The bright flash and the deafening sound of the fall were observed for three hundred kilometres around the point of impact not far from LuchegorskLuchegorsk Luchegorsk is an urban-type settlement and administrative center of Pozharsky District of Primorsky Krai, Russia.... and approximately 440 km northeast of VladivostokVladivostok Vladivostok is the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated close to the Russo-Chinese border and North Ko... . A smoke train, estimated at 32 km long, remained in the sky for several hours. As the meteorite entered the atmosphere, traveling at a speed of about 14 km/s, it began to break apart, and the fragments fell together. At an altitude of about 5.6 km, the largest mass apparently broke up in a violent explosion. On November 20, 1957 the Soviet UnionSoviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state that existed... issued a stamp for the 10th anniversary of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite shower. It reproduces a painting by P. J. Medvedev, a russian artist who witnessed the fall: he was sitting in his window starting a sketch when the fireball appeared, so he immediately began drawing what he saw. Orbit Because the meteoriteMeteorite A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives its impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed.... fell during daytime, it was observed by many eyewitnesses. Evaluation of this observational data allowed V. G. Fesenkov, then chairman of the meteorite committee of the USSR Academy of ScienceRussian Academy of Sciences Russian Academy of Sciences is the national academy of Russia.... , to estimate the meteoroid'sMeteoroid A meteoroid is a relatively small fragment of debris in the Solar System.... orbitORBit ORBit is a CORBA compliant Object Request Broker.... before it encountered the Earth. This orbit was ellipseEllipse The search term "Elliptical" redirects to this page; for the exercise machine, see Elliptical trainer.... -shaped, with its point of greatest distance from the sunSun \|+ The Sun \|+\|-\| colspan="2" align="center" \| \|-... situated within the asteroid beltAsteroid belt The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system falling roughly between the planets Mars and Jupiter where the greatest co... , similar to many other small bodies crossing the orbit of the Earth. Such an orbit was probably created by collisions within the asteroid belt. Size Sikhote-Alin is a massive fall. The overall size of the meteoroidMeteoroid A meteoroid is a relatively small fragment of debris in the Solar System.... has been estimated at just under 900,000 kg. Krinov had estimated the post atmospheric mass of the meteoroid at some 70,000 kg. A more recent estimate by Tsvetkov (and others) puts the mass at around 100,000 kg. Strewnfield The strewn fieldStrewn field The term strewnfield indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed.... for this meteorite covered an elliptical area of about 1.3 km². Some of the fragments made craters, the largest of which was about 26 m across and 6 m deep. Fragments of the meteorite were also driven into the surrounding trees. Composition and classification The Sikhote-Alin meteorite is classified as an iron meteoriteIron meteorite Iron meteorites consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys. ... belonging to the chemical group IIAB and with a coarse octahedriteOctahedrite Octahedrites are the most common class of iron meteorites.... structure. It is composed of approximately 93% ironIron Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26.... , 5.9% nickelNickel Nickel is a metallic chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ni and atomic number 28.... , 0.42% cobaltCobalt Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal, a chemical element.... , 0.46% phosphorusPhosphorus Overview \|-\| Critical temperature \|\| 994 KPhosphorus, , is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol P a... , and 0.28% sulfurSulfur Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol S and atomic number 16.... , with trace amounts of germaniumGermanium .Germanium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ge and atomic number 32.... and iridiumIridium Iridium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77.... . Minerals present include taeniteTaenite Taenite is a mineral found naturally on Earth mostly in iron meteorites.... , plessitePlessite Summary Plessite is a fine-grained mixture of the minerals kamacite and taenite found in the octahedrite iron meteorites.... , troilite, chromiteChromite Chromite, iron magnesium chromium oxide:Cr2O4, is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group.... , kamaciteKamacite Kamacite is a mineral. It is an alloy of iron and nickel, usually in the proportions of 90:10 to 95:5 although impurities su... , and schreibersiteSchreibersite Schreibersite is a rare iron nickel phosphide mineral,3P, found in iron-nickel meteorites.... . Specimens Specimens of the Sikhote-Alin Meteorite are basically of two types: individual, thumbprinted or regmaglypted specimens, showing fusion crust and signs of atmospheric ablationAblation Ablation is defined as the removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive pro... shrapnel or fragmented specimens, sharp edged pieces of torn metal showing evidence of violent fragmentation The first type probably broke off the main object early in the descent. These pieces are characterized by regmaglypts (cavities resembling thumb prints) in the surface of each specimen. The second type are fragments which were either torn apart during the atmospheric explosions or blasted apart upon impact on the frozen ground. Most were probably the result of the explosion at 5.6 km altitude. A large specimen is on display in MoscowMoscow Moscow is the capital of Russia and the country's principal political, economic, financial, educational, and transportation... , many other specimens are holded by Russian Academy of Science and a great number of smaller specimens have made their way into the collector's market. See also MeteoriteMeteorite A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives its impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed.... Meteorite fall Regmaglypt External links