Chelyabinsk Meteorite

This piece is .8 grams

The Chelyabisnk meteorite struck on February 15th, 2013 in the territory of Chelyabinsk region, South Ural State. A blinding bright fireball briefly moved in frmo the southeast and became noticeable from the altitude of 100km (62 miles). The inclince flying path of 12-15 degrees allowed sightings of the fireball streaking over a broad stretch of 500-700 km around the impact area. At an altitude abut 60km, the fireball got a smoky trail that split up later on. At an altitude of 23km, the fireball exploded and disintegrated over an area of about 250 sq km. The resulting meteor shower fell in the territory between Emanzhelinsk and Chebarkul.

The Chelyabisnk meteorite is classified as an ordinary chondrite. It's original size was 17 meters in diameter and it's weight was 10 thousand tons. Some fallen meteorite stones are the size of a pea while other fragments weigh up to 1.8kg. The type of meteorites is LL% (S4,W0). The main phases of olivine, plagioclase, Diopside, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene. Trace amounts of chromite, trilite, heazlewoodite kamacite, taenite, copper, chloroaptite, titanic iron ore, merrillite and glass of feldspar composition were also detected. The meteorite is impact melted breccia.

March 18th, 2013, the meteorite was registered by the Meteoritical Society (code 57165) and formally recognized under the name Chelyabinsk.