Meteorite Sikhote-Alin

Greates meteorite Sikhote-Alin. The largest shower in historical time occurred in Eastern Siberia on February 12, 1947. The unique phenomenon was observed by many eyewitnesses and has been the subject of numerous, very thorough studies by the Russian scientists. In full daylight, a fireball moved from north to south and, about 10:38 A.M. local time, fragmented in the Earth's atmosphere. When this iron fell it went off like a grenade. The debris covered an elliptical area of 1.6 km on the snow-covered western spurs of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains. The apparent diameter of the bolide with its luminous envelope was estimated to be 600 m. The brightness exceeded that of the sun, according to eyewitnesses, and the dust trail was observed for several hours before the particles precipitated or were scattered by the wind. Most of the impacting meteorites did not, however, penetrate the eluvial and alluvial debris, which covered the bedrock with 1-2 m thicklayers, and moreover, at the time of impact, were solidly frozen to adepth of one meter....