[meteorite-list] Largest Piece So Far of Chelyabinsk Meteorite Found

[Ron Baalke]

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130821/182894364/Largest-Piece-So-Far-of-Chelyabinsk-Meteorite-Found--Scientists.html

Largest Piece So Far of Chelyabinsk Meteorite Found - Scientists
RIA Novosti
August 21, 2013

YEKATERINBURG -  Russian scientists have confirmed the authenticity of 
a 3.4-kilogram (7.5-pound) fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite  - the 
largest piece found so far from the meteorite that hit the Urals region 
in February.

An unnamed resident of the Chelyabinsk region in Russia's Urals found 
the fragment near the village of Timiryazevsky and submitted it for analysis 
and authentication to Chelyabinsk State University.

"Yes, it is a meteorite. This is the largest [Chelyabinsk] fragment analyzed 
so far by scientists," Andrei Kocherov, an official from the university, 
told RIA Novosti.

The lucky owner was given an official certificate confirming the authenticity 
of the celestial fragment, Kocherov said.

The meteorite, more than 18 meters in size and weighing 10,000 metric 
tons, exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals on February 15. 
The blast was an equivalent to 440 kilotons of TNT - 27 times more powerful 
than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945. The meteorite blast 
left 1,200 injured, most by window glass shattered by the shockwave.

The meteorite broke into some seven large fragments, and one of them is 
believed to have fallen into Chebarkul Lake, forming a hole in the ice 
about eight meters in diameter. In late March, a radar probe of the bottom 
of the lake revealed a crater possibly created by a fragment of a meteorite.

Chelyabinsk region authorities have allocated 3 million rubles (about 
$10,000) for the recovery of the fragment, which is believed to have an 
oval shape, a size of up to a meter and a weight of about 600 kilograms.