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| Chelyabinsk | |
|---|---|
Fragments of the meteorite that were first discovered at Lake Chebarkul.
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| Type | Ordinary chondrite LL5 [1] |
| Shock stage | S4[2] |
| Weathering grade | W0 (pristine) |
| Country | Russia |
| Region | Chelyabinsk Oblast |
| Coordinates | 54.955146°N 60.326614°ECoordinates: 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 | TBD (53 fragments smaller than 1 cm at the moment).[3] |
| Strewn field | Yes |
The largest found fragments having a total weight of 654 kg (1,442 lb) were raised from the bottom of the Chebarkul lake on 16 October, 2013.[6]
Contents
Naming
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 allegedly impacted and made a 6-metre-wide hole in the frozen lake surface. The large meteorite has yet to be found, but smaller fragments were retrieved from the ice around the hole.[7][4]Composition and classification
The meteorite has been preliminarily classified as an ordinary chondrite. First estimates of its composition indicate about 10% of meteoric iron, as well as olivine and sulfites.[7][4]Asteroid
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.[8] The impactor belonged to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids.[8]The asteroid had an approximate size of 18 metres (59 ft) and a mass of about 9,100 tonnes (10,000 short tons) before it entered the denser parts of Earth's atmosphere and started to ablate.[9] At an altitude of about 23.3 km (14.5 miles) the body exploded in an air burst.[9] Meteorite fragments of the body landed on the ground.[3][10]
Meteorite
Scientists collected 53 samples nearby a 6-metre-wide hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, thought to be the result of a single meteorite fragment impact. The specimens are vary in size (the largest is 11 pounds (5 kilograms))[11] and initial laboratory analysis confirmed their meteoric origin.[1]In June 2013, Russian scientists reported that further investigation by magnetic imaging below the location of the ice hole in Lake Chebarkul has identified a 60 centimetres (2.0 ft)-size large meteorite buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake. An operation to recover it from the lake began in September 10, 2013,[12][13] and concluded in 16 October 2013 with the raising of the rock estimated to weigh at least 570 kg (1,260 lb).[14] It will be examined by scientists and then handed over to the local authorities.[15]
In the aftermath of the superbolide air burst, a large number of small meteorite fragments fell on areas west of Chelyabinsk, including Deputatskoye, generally at terminal velocity, about the speed of a piece of gravel dropped from a skyscraper.[3] Local residents and schoolchildren located and picked up some of the meteorites, many located in snowdrifts, by following a visible hole that had been left in the outer surface of the snow. Speculators have been active in the informal market for meteorite fragments that has rapidly emerged.[3]
Popular culture
- As of 18 February 2013, some reports surfaced of people trying to sell fake meteorites on the Internet.[16]
- During the 2014 Winter Olympics, gold medal winners on February 15 will receive fragments of the meteorite.[17]
- The "Church of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite" has been set up in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.[15][18] The founder of the church, Andrey Breyvichko, claims the meteorite in the lake contains a coded "set of moral and legal norms that will help people live at a new stage of spiritual knowledge development."[13] Breyvichko opposes the operation to bring the meteorite fragment out of the lake, claiming that only "psychic priests" of his church are qualified to decode and handle the celestial body, which they want to be placed in a temple to be built in Chelyabinsk for the purpose.[13][15][19]
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