Video: The Fukan meteorite is a precious space gift weighing 1000 kg
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The recent fall of a meteorite in Chelyabinsk became another reminder to mankind that it is too early to talk about the safety of our planet. Everyone, young and old, spoke about this cosmic "guest". Along the way, we remembered other space objects that flew to Earth. One of the most unusual - Fukang meteorite, a real precious gift from the universe.
The age of the miracle meteorite is 4.5 billion years, it is the same age as our planet. Fukang was found near the city of Fukang (northwest China), after which it was named. The amazing meteorite consists of 50% iron-nickel base and 50% olivine, which is sometimes called a cosmic gem. Olivine (its second name is chrysolite) is also found on earth, but such large crystals cannot be found in nature.
An amazing meteorite was discovered by an American tourist who often stopped to dine on a huge rock. Over time, seeing the crystalline structure of the rock, he became interested in its origin and, having obtained several fragments with a hammer and chisel, sent them to the USA for examination. The Americans confirmed that the unexpected find was a meteorite.
In total, the space lump weighed more than a thousand kilograms, but the insatiable tourists immediately wanted to "break off" a piece, so the weight of the space "gift" began to melt steadily. The decision was made to split the meteorite into hundreds of small pieces, which were put up for auction around the world.
In 2008, a fragment of a meteorite weighing 420 kg (!) Marvin Killgore, one of the employees of the Southwest Laboratory of the University of Arizona Meteorites, decided to put up for a New York auction. The starting price of the "precious" stone was $ 2 million, but that day, unfortunately, buyers were not impressed with the lot. The giant meteorite fragment was split into several pieces and cut into pieces. Today one of the parts (weighing 31 kg) has been donated to the American Museum of Natural History.
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