8159

Sikhote-Alin Iron Meteorite

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Autographs - Space Start Price:NA Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
Sikhote-Alin Iron Meteorite

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Auction Date:2017 Oct 19 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Substantial Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite fragment from the largest recorded meteorite fall in history on February 12, 1947, over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Siberia, Russia. The shrapnel (fragment) specimen weighs 528.9 grams and measures approximately 75 mm x 70 mm x 55 mm. This example is a fragment that exploded in flight. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Geoff Notkin of Aerolite Meteorites Inc. and the TV show Meteorite Men.

While individual Sikhote-Alin meteorites display attractive features and appeal to the aesthetically-inclined, shrapnel fragments show the catastrophic forces inflicted upon incoming meteorites. One February evening, just two years after the end of the Second World War, a large iron mass crashed suddenly into the atmosphere of planet Earth. Forcing a column of air ahead of itself, the mass generated heat and pressure and, within a few short seconds, superheated to about 3,000 degrees. The extreme temperature change caused rapid expansion of the nickel-iron matrix and mounting pressure of ever-denser air forced the mass to shear and fracture along its crystalline planes causing a massive aerial explosion that was heard by human observers on the ground. The shockwave reportedly knocked over forest workers, and twisted shards of metal rained down among snowy pines. Melted, torn, and blasted, these fragments so resembled the remnants of wartime bombing that they were named shrapnel.