History
Around midnight on March 26, 2003, a bright orange fireball was spotted in the sky which was visible across Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. Soon after, reports of falling debris were recorded near the village of Park Forest, Illinois. At least two houses in Park Forest were struck, as well as the fire station. In the following days, this event was officially named the Park Forest meteorite, as numerous stones or fragments were recovered in the area. The total mass recovered is above 18 kilograms (40 lb) and the single largest stone is about 3 kilograms (6.6 lb). [2]
Steven Simon (University of Chicago) and seven colleagues from the University of Chicago, the Planetary Studies Foundation, Harper College, Pacific Northwest National Lab, and the Field Museum of Natural History have classified the meteorite fragments that fell on Chicago's southern suburbs on the night of March 26, 2003. Described as:
...the most densely populated region to be hit by a meteorite shower in modern times. [1]
It is estimated that the Park Forest meteoroid was at least 900 kilograms, and as large as 7000 kilograms upon entering the atmosphere. [1]
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.
Campo del Cielo refers to a group of iron meteorites and the area in Argentina where they were found. The site straddles the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, located 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) north-northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina and approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) southwest of Asunción, Paraguay. The crater field covers 18.5 by 3 kilometres and contains at least 26 craters, the largest being 115 by 91 metres.
An iron meteorite fell on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, in southeastern Russia, in 1947. Large iron meteorite falls have been witnessed and fragments recovered but never before, in recorded history, a fall of this magnitude. An estimated 23 tonnes of fragments survived the fiery passage through the atmosphere and reached the Earth.
The Canyon Diablo meteorite refers to the many fragments of the asteroid that created Meteor Crater, Arizona, United States. Meteorites have been found around the crater rim, and are named for nearby Canyon Diablo, which lies about three to four miles west of the crater.
Orgueil is a scientifically important carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell in southwestern France in 1864.
The pallasites are a class of stony–iron meteorite. They are relatively rare, and can be distinguished by the presence of large olivine crystal inclusions in the ferro-nickel matrix.
The Paragould Meteorite at 41 inches (1,000 mm) by 24 inches (610 mm) by 16 inches (410 mm) and weighing 370 kilograms (820 lb) is the second largest witnessed meteorite fall ever recovered in North America and the largest stony meteorite chondrite. It fell to Earth at approximately 4:08 a.m. on February 17, 1930.
Kaidun is a meteorite that fell on 3 December 1980 on a Soviet military base near what is now Al-Khuraybah in Yemen. A fireball was observed travelling from the northwest to the southeast, and a single stone weighing about 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) was recovered from a small impact pit. It has been suggested that Kaidun originated from the Martian moon of Phobos, but this is disputed.
The Allende meteorite is the largest carbonaceous chondrite ever found on Earth. The fireball was witnessed at 01:05 on February 8, 1969, falling over the Mexican state of Chihuahua. After it broke up in the atmosphere, an extensive search for pieces was conducted and over 2 tonnes were recovered. The availability of large quantities of samples of the scientifically important chondrite class has enabled numerous investigations by many scientists; it is often described as "the best-studied meteorite in history." The Allende meteorite has abundant, large calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI), which are among the oldest objects formed in the Solar System.
Stannern meteorite fell on May 22, 1808 into the Moravian village Stonařov, in today's Czech Republic.
The Sylacauga meteorite fell on November 30, 1954, at 12:46 local time in Oak Grove, Alabama, near Sylacauga, in the United States. It is also commonly called the Hodges meteorite because a fragment of it struck Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges (1920–1972).
Homestead is a L5 meteorite fallen in 1875 in Iowa, United States.
Pultusk is an H5 ordinary chondrite meteorite which fell on 30 January 1868 in Poland. The event has been known as the stony meteorite shower with the largest number of pieces yet recorded in history. Made up of rocky debris, it consists of pyroxene or olivine chondrules deployed in mass plagioclase, there being also kamacite.
Gao–Guenie is a H5 ordinary chondrite meteorite that fell on Burkina Faso, West Africa, on March 5, 1960. The fall was composed of many fragments and it is one of the largest observed meteorite showers in Africa to date.
Enstatite chondrites are a rare form of meteorite, rich in the mineral enstatite. Only about 200 E-Type chondrites are currently known, comprising about 2% of the chondrites that fall on Earth. There are two main subtypes: EH and EL, classified based on their iron content.
The Yardymly meteorite is an iron meteorite that fell in Yardymli Rayon, Azerbaijan on November 24, 1959. The remains were discovered in the nearby village of Aroos. With five individual specimens, the total weight of the meteorite is estimated at 150.29 kilograms (331.3 lb). The meteorite is kept in the Institute of Geology of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. According to the director of Şamaxı Astrophysical Observatory Eyub Guliyev, the Yardymli meteorite may originate from the shower of Perseids.
Avanhandava is an H chondrite meteorite that fell to earth in 1952 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Neuschwanstein was an enstatite chondrite meteorite that fell to Earth on 6 April 2002 at 22:20:18 GMT near Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, at the Germany–Austria border.
The Richardton meteorite is a 90 kilograms (200 lb) H5 Ordinary chondrite that was seen to fall at 21:48 on 30 June 1918 between Mott, North Dakota and Richardton, North Dakota, United States.
Fifteen pieces of the Kainsaz meteorite were seen to fall near Kainsaz, Muslyumovo, Tatarstan on September 13, 1937. The largest weighed 102.5 kilograms (226 lb), the total weight was ~200 kilograms (440 lb). As of January 2013 pieces were on sale for ~US$100/g. Kainsaz is the only observed fall in Tatarstan.
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