Sikhote-Alin meteorite Iron meteorite - 155 g - (1)

At around 10: 30 on 12th February 1947, eyewitnesses in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Soviet Union, observed a large bolide brighter than the sun that came out of the north and descended at an angle of about 41 degrees. The bright flash and the deafening sound of the fall were observed for 300 kilometres (190 mi) around the point of impact not far from Luchegorsk and approximately 440 km (270 mi) northeast of Vladivostok. A smoke trail, estimated at 32 km (20 mi) long, remained in the sky for several hours. As the meteor, travelling at a speed of about 14 km/s (8. 7 mi/s) , entered the atmosphere, it began to break apart, and the fragments fell together. At an altitude of about 5. 6 km (3. 5 mi) , the largest mass apparently broke up in a violent explosion called an air burst. The Sikhote-Alin meteorite is classified as an iron meteorite belonging to the meteorite group IIAB and with a coarse octahedrite structure. It is composed of approximately 93% iron, 5. 9% nickel, 0. 42% cobalt, 0. 46% phosphorus, and 0. 28% sulphur, with trace amounts of germanium and iridium. Minerals present include taenite, plessite, troilite, chromite, kamacite, and schreibersite.