Hoba Meteorite: World's Largest Meteorite


In 1920, a farmer was plowing a field near Grootfontein, Namibia when his plow suddenly screeched to a halt. Curious about what he had run into, he dug in the soil to find a large piece of metal. The large metal mass quickly attracted the attention of scientists and others, who identified it as a meteorite and removed the soil around it.

Although excavated, the meteorite has not been moved from its location of discovery because of its great weight. However, many pieces have been removed for scientific study and through vandalism.

The experts all agree that the Hoba Meteorite is the biggest meteor that has been found on earth until today.




The Hoba meteorite impact is thought to have occurred more recently than 80,000 years ago. It is inferred[3] that the Earth's atmosphere slowed the object to the point that it impacted the surface at terminal velocity, thereby remaining intact and causing little excavation. Assuming a drag coefficient of about 1.3, the meteor would have been slowed to about 720 miles per hour (0.32 km/s) from its speed on entering the Earth's atmosphere, typically in excess of 10 km/s for similar objects. The meteorite is unusual in that it is flat on both major surfaces, possibly causing it to have skipped across the top of the atmosphere like a flat stone skipping on water.



Source: WIKIPEDIA

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