[meteorite-list] Fragment of Chelyabinsk Meteor To Go on Display in Vienna

[Ron Baalke]

http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2014-02-11/50457/Largest_surviving_fragment_of_Chelyabinsk_meteor_to_go_on_display_in_Vienna

Largest surviving fragment of Chelyabinsk meteor to go on display in Vienna
Austrian Times
February 11, 2014

The spectacular meteorite which blew up over the earth after entering 
the atmosphere at an incredible 60 times the speed of sound before exploding 
in a ball of light brighter than the sun is to be put on display at Vienna's 
National History Museum this month.

Only small parts of the meteorite that exploded 20 miles above the ground 
in Chelyabinsk, in Russia were left and the largest - a 387g chunk - has 
been snapped up by the Austrian museum in an international bidding war. 
It will now go on display in Vienna from 15th February this year.

The meteorite caused extensive damage and injured around 1,500 people 
when it exploded with the force of 500 kilotons of TNT, which was 20-30 
times more energy than was released from the atomic bomb detonated at 
Hiroshima.

Treasure hunters immediately descended on the region to look for fragments 
and the Vienna National History Museum was able to acquire the chunk now 
going on display to add to its meteorite collection.

The object was undetected before its atmospheric entry and its explosion 
created panic among local residents. About 1,500 people were injured seriously 
enough to seek medical treatment.

All of the injuries were due to indirect effects rather than the meteor 
itself, mainly from broken glass from windows that were blown in when 
the shock wave arrived, minutes after the explosive flash.

In total, some 7,200 buildings in six cities across the region were damaged 
by the explosion's shock wave.

With an estimated initial mass of about 12,000 to 13,000 metric tonnes 
and about 20 metres in size, it is the largest known natural object to 
have entered Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event that destroyed 
a wide, remote, forested area of Siberia.

The Chelyabinsk meteor is also the only meteor confirmed to have resulted 
in a large number of injuries.