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Chelyabinsk
Fragments of the meteorite that were first discovered at Lake Chebarkul.
Type	Ordinary chondrite LL5
Shock stage	S4
Weathering grade	W0 (pristine)
Country	Russia
Region	Chelyabinsk Oblast
Coordinates	54°57′19″N 60°19′36″E / 54.955146°N 60.326614°E / 54.955146; 60.326614
Observed fall	Yes
Fall date	15 February 2013, 09:20 YEKT (UTC+06:00)
Found date	17 February 2013
TKW	TBD (53 fragments smaller than 1 cm at the moment).
Strewn field	Yes
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The Chelyabinsk meteorite is the fragmented remains of the large Chelyabinsk meteor of 15 February 2013 which reached the ground after the meteor's passage through the atmosphere. The descent of the meteor, visible as a brilliant superbolide in the morning sky, caused a series of shock waves that shattered windows, damaged approximately 7,200 buildings and left 1,500 people injured. The resulting fragments were scattered over a wide area.

Naming

The meteor and meteorite are named after Chelyabinsk Oblast, over which the meteor exploded. An initial proposal was to name the meteorite after Lake Chebarkul, where one of its major fragments allegedly impacted and made a 6-metre-wide hole in the ice of the lake. The large meteorite has yet to be found, but smaller fragments were retrieved from the ice around the hole.

Composition and classification

The meteorite has been preliminarily classified as an ordinary chondrite. First estimates of its composition indicate about 10% of meteoric iron, as well as olivine and sulfites.

Asteroid

The impacting asteroid started to brighten up in the general direction of the Pegasus constellation, close to the East horizon where the Sun was starting to rise. The impactor belonged to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids.

The asteroid had an approximate size of 18 metres (59 ft) and a mass of about 9,100 tonnes (10,000 short tons) before it entered the denser parts of Earth's atmosphere and started to ablate. At an altitude of about 23.3 km (14.5 miles) the body exploded in an air burst. Meteorite fragments of the body landed on the ground.

Meteorite

Scientists collected 53 samples nearby a 6-metre-wide hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, thought to be the result of a single meteorite fragment impact. The specimens are all under 1 centimetre in size and initial laboratory analysis confirmed their meteoric origin.

In June 2013, Russian scientists reported that further investigation by magnetic imaging below the location of the ice hole in Lake Chebarkul has identified a 60 centimetres (2.0 ft)-size large meteorite buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake. The chunk is estimated to weigh roughly 300 kilograms (660 lb), but has not yet been recovered.

In the aftermath of the superbolide air burst, a large number of small meteorite fragments fell on areas west of Chelyabinsk, including Deputatskoye, generally at terminal velocity, about the speed of a piece of gravel dropped from a skyscraper. Local residents and schoolchildren located and picked up some of the meteorites, many located in snowdrifts, by following a visible hole that had been left in the outer surface of the snow. Speculators have been active in the informal market for meteorite fragments that has rapidly emerged.

As of 18 February 2013, some reports surfaced of people trying to sell fake meteorites on the Internet.

During the 2014 Winter Olympics, gold medal winners on February 15 will recieve fragments of the meteor.

Gallery

• Size comparison of the meteor size to some other objects
• The meteor's path relative to ground.
• Researcher holds the sample after finding it at Chebarkul lake
• Ural Federal University scientist Victor Grohovsky talks to press during presentation of analysis results in Ekaterinburg

References

1. "Chelyabinsk". Meteoritical Bulletin Database. The Meteoritical Society. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
2. "Тип челябинского метеорита оказался уникальным для России - ученые" [Chelyabinsk meteorite type was unique for Russia - Scientists] (in Russian). ria.ru. 28 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
3. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (18 February 2013). "Russians Wade Into the Snow to Seek Treasure From the Sky". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. ^ "Russische Wissenschaftler finden Teile des Meteoriten" [Russian scientists find parts of the meteorite]. Zeit (in German). 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. "Meteorite-caused emergency situation regime over in Chelyabinsk region". Russia Beyond The Headlines. Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Interfax. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
6. ^ "Russische Wissenschafter fanden Fragmente des Meteoriten" [Russian scientists found fragments of the meteorite]. Standard (in German). 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Ferrin, Ignacio (2013). "A preliminary reconstruction of the orbit of the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid". 1302. arXiv.org: 5377. arXiv:1302.5377. Bibcode:2013arXiv1302.5377Z. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. We use this result to classify the meteoroid among the near Earth asteroid families finding that the parent body belonged to the Apollo asteroids. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
8. ^ Yeomans, Don; Chodas, Paul (1 March 2013). "Additional Details on the Large Fireball Event over Russia on Feb. 15, 2013". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived from the original on 2013-04-30. Note that estimates of total energy, diameter and mass are very approximate. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
   NASA's webpage in turn acknowledges credit for its data and visual diagrams to:

   Peter Brown (University of Western Ontario); William Cooke (Marshall Space Flight Center); Paul Chodas, Steve Chesley and Ron Baalke (JPL); Richard Binzel (MIT); and Dan Adamo.

9. "Meteorite fragments found in Russia's Urals region". BBC News. BBC. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-19. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
10. "Huge Chunk of Meteorite Located in Urals Lake - Scientist". RIA Novosti. 22 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
11. "Meteorites Found, But Beware Offers to Sell". Space Policy Online. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
12. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10203817/Winners-at-Sochi-Winter-Olympics-to-receive-pieces-of-Russia-meteorite.html

External links

• Scientists study 53 tiny meteorites from Russian fireball (Astro Bob : 18 February 2013)
• Digging for "Chebarkul" meteorites in the snow, new pix plus an orbit (Astro Bob : 23 February 2013)

• Meteorite falls
• Strewn field (meteorite)
• Chondrite meteorites
• Meteorites found in Russia
• 2013 in Russia