Chelyabinsk meteorite Chondrite Meteorite - Width: 3 cm - 14 g - (1)

A beautiful piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, and now we are marking its anniversary, since it fell on February 15, 2013.

An asteroid about 20 meters wide entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia at a speed of almost 19 kilometers per second.
Unlike other space objects, it was not detected in advance because it came from the direction of the Sun.

It disintegrated at about 30 km altitude, releasing energy equivalent to about 500 kilotons of TNT (about 30 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb).

The shock wave shattered windows in thousands of buildings across six different cities. Around 1,500 people were injured, mainly by cuts from shattered glass that flew through the air when people looked out their windows to see what that bright flash was.

The find was in Lake Chebarkul.
Most of the meteorite turned to dust, and many fragments like the one we have here, but a giant fragment of about 600 kg managed to survive and fell into the frozen lake Chebarkul, leaving a 7-meter hole in the ice. Months later, scientists managed to retrieve it from the bottom.

Why was it so important for science?
Chelyabinsk was a "wake-up call." Thanks to thousands of videos recorded by security cameras and dashboard cameras (very common in Russia), scientists were able to reconstruct its trajectory with unprecedented precision.

This spurred the creation of better planetary defense systems to monitor near-Earth objects (NEOs).

I am passionate about meteorites and astronomy. With enthusiasm I offer this piece.
Best regards and thanks.