TORONTO – A large part of the Chelyabinsk meteorite that exploded in the Russian sky last February has been recovered from a lake.
On Feb. 15, people in Chelyabinsk, Russia, woke up to an extremely bright meteor streaking across the sky. Chunks of it fell off as it broke apart.
Minutes later the shockwave generated by the sound shattered windows, threw people to the ground, and caused hundreds of injuries.
The meteorite left a hole in the ice of Chebarkul Lake. Scientists have been working to retrieve the rock which will provide them with details about its composition.
Dashboard cameras mounted in cars captured the meteor as it lit up the early morning sky, making it the most widely-documented meteorite in history.
The meteorite, weighing 10,000 metric tons, exploded about 22.5 km above the city. It travelled at a mind-blowing 18.6 kilometres per second, compressing the air in front of it, heating it up, causing the shockwave. The explosion released more than 30 times the energy of the atom bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Though people have claimed to have found small fragments from the meteorite, nothing substantive had been found.
And what’s the difference between a meteor and a meteorite? A meteor is a piece of space debris that burns up in our atmosphere. A meteorite is one that reaches the ground.
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