Sikhote-Alin - Iron, IIAB - Complete Individual - 77.34g - Primorye Region
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SKU
SKH-11/49
This 77.34g complete individual of Sikhote-Alin has an angular, sculptural form with a pointed projection rising from one side. Deep regmaglypts and smooth, flowing surfaces of dark metal cover the piece, shaped as it was ablated during its flight through the atmosphere.
Sikhote-Alin is one of the most famous witnessed meteorite falls in history. On the morning of 12th February 1947, a brilliant daylight fireball was seen over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in the far east of Asia, followed by loud detonations as the incoming body broke apart. The resulting shower of iron produced more than 100 craters and pits, and around 23 tonnes of material have since been recovered.
Sikhote-Alin is classified as an Iron, IIAB, a coarsest octahedrite, and represents iron-nickel metal from the core of an early asteroid. Its specimens are generally divided into two kinds: angular fragments torn apart during the break-up and impact, often called shrapnel, and complete individuals like this one, which are thought to have separated high in the atmosphere and were then sculpted by ablation into smooth, thumbprinted shapes.
For collectors, a regmaglypted individual of this size is a fine example of how a meteorite is shaped by its fall, and the well documented history of the Sikhote-Alin fall gives it a story that few iron meteorites can match.