Description
On January 30th, 1868 one could see an enormous ball of fire in the Polish sky which sped towards the earth. At seven o’clock in the evening an explosion took place and shortly afterwards stones rained from the sky in the surrounding of Pultusk which is about 65 km to the north of Warsaw. A huge meteorite detonated in the Earth’s atmosphere and landed on a 120 km2 stretch of land.
The meteorite of Pultusk is a so-called H5 chondrite. These contain spherical inclusions of minerals, the chondrules, which normally consist of olivine and pyroxene. The H stands for the high iron content of over 27.5 percent.
The total weight of the located meteorite-find is estimated at just less than nine tons. The heaviest piece, which is about 9 kg, is exhibited in the British Museum of London. However, most of the thousands of pieces from the meteorites debris weigh less than 10 grams. Among experts such small finds are called “Pultusk-Peas“.
This Polish meteorite shower is among the biggest which has ever been sighted by humans and is certainly the most significant in Europe. However, fortunately no injuries or destructions are known of.
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