Top-10 of the largest meteorites that fell to Earth

Our planet is daily subjected to real space bombing. Hundreds of small and not very meteorites attack the Earth, fortunately, burning in the atmosphere. To reach the surface, while retaining a considerable size, only units are possible.

Today we propose to consider Top-10 of the largest meteorites, from the beginning of the XX century fell to Earth. We did not include in the top ten huge space bodies that left scars on the face of the planet millions of years ago.

Today, at the site of the fall of those meteors are craters, often turned into lakes, for example, Lake Mistastin in Canada and a 45-kilometer Lake Karakul in Tajikistan.

10. Meteorite Sutter Mill, April 22, 2012

The meteorite flew in the sky to the US and exploded directly over Washington. The explosion power was about 4 kilotons in TNT equivalent. A lot of fragments of different sizes enthusiasts found not only in Washington, but also in the states of Nevada and California.

9. Meteorite that fell in China 11 February 2012

On the night of 11 February, the sky above China was colored by hundreds of meteorite rain fires. Space bodies filled the area of ​​100 square kilometers. The largest of the meteorites found weighed 12.6 kg.

8. Peruvian meteorite, 15 September 2007

This meteorite fell in broad daylight near Lake Titicaca. At the site of the crater formed a depth of 6 and a diameter of 30 meters. Soon after the fall, more than 1,500 people said they had severe headaches.

7. Meteorite Kunya-Urgench, Turkmenistan, June 20, 1998

A huge meteorite fell at night near the city of Kunya-Urgench. The largest chip weighed 820 kg, and its age scientists have determined at around 4 billion years.

6. Meteorite Sterlitamak, May 17, 1990

A large meteorite weighing 315 kg left a crater with a diameter of more than 10 meters in its place. The space guest was placed in the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the Ufa Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where everyone can admire him.

5. Jilin Meteorite. China, March 8, 1976

One of the largest meteorites found fell to Earth during a powerful meteor shower. Its weight was 1.7 tons. Along with this giant in the sky for 37 minutes, thousands of smaller space bodies burned.

4. Meteorite Sikhote-Alin, Russia, Far East, 12 February 1947

This huge meteorite exploded in the atmosphere, and its debris formed on the surface of the Earth more than 30 craters from 7 to 28 m to 6 meters deep. Scientists collected about 27 tons of fragments of different sizes, which allows to judge the significant size of the meteorite.

3. Goba meteorite, Namibia, 1920

This meteorite landed on the earth about 20 thousand years ago, but was found only in 1920.The stone weighs more than 60 tons. And scientists say that during the time that has passed since its fall, the meteorite "lost weight" due to erosion and the actions of vandals.

2. Chelyabinsk Meteorite, February 15, 2013

This meteorite, of course, is not the largest, but one of the most famous. Cosmic bodies rarely fall in the vicinity of large settlements, as happened in Chelyabinsk. Before the explosion, the meteorite weighed about 10,000 tons and had a diameter of 17 meters. According to NASA, this meteorite is the largest since the time of the legendary Tunguska.

1. Tunguska meteorite, June 30, 1908

The mass of the most famous meteorite scientists do not know, calling only its limits - from 100 thousand to 1 million tons. The blast wave from the meteorite ruptured over the taiga twisted the globe twice. As a result, trees were planted on the territory of more than 2 thousand square meters.km, and in the houses a hundred kilometers from the explosion flew the glass. The glow in the sky over the taiga remained for several days.

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