"Space gifts" fall to the ground quite often. They come in different sizes, but mostly they are small fragments in which it is not at all easy to recognize an unearthly origin. Astronomers even managed to calculate that almost 100,000 tons of meteorite substances fall on Earth during the year. However, space giants are occasionally found among them. One of these cosmic bodies is Goba - the largest meteorite found.
Why are meteorites rarely found
Many have a question: "Why are meteorites so rare?" Indeed, 100 thousand tons every year is a rather big figure, but usually meteorite fragments weigh several kilograms, and sometimes even grams. Not everyone can understand that under his feet is not just a stone, but a space alien. The small size of meteorites is due to the fact that when entering the Earth's atmosphere, the cosmic body heats up and lights up. The ablation process begins, as a result of which the mass of the object is significantly reduced. Most of the celestial projectiles do not reach the earth's surface at all. By the way, ablation is when particles of matter are carried away from the surface of solid bodies by a streamhot gas or radiation.
How was the largest meteorite on the planet discovered?
Evidence of how the largest Goba meteorite fell to Earth is no longer found. The fact is that this happened back in prehistoric times, when primitive man did not know writing. But a huge "heavenly stone" was found in the most banal way. While plowing his savannah, an African farmer from Namibia caught something very large with a plow. Having cleared the site, the farmer realized that it was simply impossible to budge this monster. The strange body attracted the attention of scientists, who confirmed its extraterrestrial origin. They gave the find the same name as the farm where it was discovered - Hoba West Farm. This event happened in 1920.
The farmer who made the unique discovery was named Jacobs Brits. He came to Namibia from Britain. The unique find gave him the opportunity to enrich himself by selling the meteorite in parts for souvenirs or for other purposes. But he considered such actions wrong and refused tempting offers. The farmer donated his find to the Namibian government, not immediately, of course, but he did.
Weight and dimensions of the largest meteorite
Scientists failed to weigh the meteorite. They made calculations and found that when discovered, the meteorite weighed about 66 tons. In addition, a theory was put forward that at the time of its fall to Earth, approximately 80 thousand years ago, the weight of this body was within 90tons. But the 60-ton Goba meteorite can still be seen today, as erosion, cutting off research pieces, and vandalism by tourists have reduced its weight significantly.
The dimensions of the Goba meteorite today are 2.7x2, 7x0.9 m. Its volume is 9 m³.
Composition of the meteorite
From numerous studies, scientists managed to get an idea of the composition of the "alien". It is officially announced that the Goba meteorite (Namibia, 1920) consists of 84% iron, 15% nickel with cob alt impurities. About 1% is accounted for by impurities of other elements. The top layer consists of iron hydroxide. The crystal structure is defined as nickel-containing ataxite.
Thus, the Goba meteorite is classified as iron. For reference, we add that, according to the classification, meteorites are divided into 3 types, based on their composition:
- Meteorites made of mineral materials are called stony.
- Meteorites made of metals are called siderites or iron.
- “Aliens” made of mixed materials are called iron-stone.
Classification helps to group specimens by common origin. Meteoritic matter can be part of a planet, asteroid or satellite, any object in the solar system that exists at the moment or existed in the past. But this classification is not final yet, it can and will expand.
Mysteries of Goba: where is the crater?
A huge meteorite has thrown scientists a number of mysteries. One of them is the absencecrater. For some reason, the space visitor landed so softly that he was able to maintain his shape and not shatter into a pile of fragments. There was no catastrophe during the fall, and there was no crater left. Although a small crater could appear and then collapse over time. It is possible that the fall occurred at a very small angle.
Another mystery - a unique shape
The Goba meteorite has a very unusual shape. A huge block looks like an almost regular parallelepiped. Fragments of objects of the Solar System of this shape hit the Earth extremely rarely, and they were much smaller than the giant Goba.
Scientists are surprised not only by the shape, but also by the outer texture of the surface of the meteorite. The alien is smooth, and its surface is almost flat. Initially, the color of the cosmic body was blue-black, but the Earth's atmosphere contains carbon dioxide, and the native iron that makes up the meteorite turned red.
Invasion of tourists
As soon as it became known where the Goba meteorite was located, a pilgrimage of tourists began to the fields of Jacobs Brits. They trampled down crops and chipped off pieces as a keepsake. It became difficult to live and work on the farm, and the farmer began to ask the government to put up guards. Several decades passed before the Namibian government decided to listen to the requests of the farmer. The Goba meteorite was declared a national monument only in 1955. True, tourists ignored the government's ban and continued to chip off souvenirs.
Tourist Center Emerges
Final handoverthe land of the Goba West farm and the meteorite itself occurred in 1988. 3 years prior to this event, Rossing Uranium Ltd. put a guard around the meteorite from their own funds. And the destruction of the alien managed to be stopped. After the transfer of land, a tourist center was organized around. Its territory is fenced, and an entrance fee is taken. The money goes to the improvement of the center. So it costs money to walk up to a meteorite and take a photo with it.
The center itself is like a botanical garden. Various trees have been planted here, and information boards have been placed. From all sides, clean paths converge to the center, and in the middle there is a three-tiered open amphitheater and steps leading to the “hero of the occasion”. Equipping the tourist center, the authorities understood that people would go there only for the sake of the Goba meteorite, so they were not very zealous, ennobling the surrounding panorama. Some information plates contain not so much important information as humor. One of them is written in several languages: "Beware of falling meteorites."
Actually, there might not have been a tourist center around the meteorite. The fact is that in 1954 the Natural History Museum of New York wanted to buy this stone of cosmic origin. A huge amount of money was allocated for this, but the museum workers faced an impossible task: to lift and transport a unique object over a long distance. They could not find a solution to this problem, so the museum abandoned the idea of purchasing it.
Double record holder
The Goba meteorite can be considered a double record holder. First, as mentioned earlier, this is the largest celestial object found on Earth. In fact, this space object is the largest native piece of iron on the planet. Secondly, he was never moved from his place. For about 80 thousand years, the messenger of heaven lies exactly where he once fell.
