Month: July 2021

The natives have a legend that the craters were formed during a fiery explosion; they call the place “Chindu chinna waru chingi yabu” which means “Sun walk fire devil rock”. It indicates that the theory that Henbury is a witnessed fall is more than likely. Moreover, it has been estimated that this iron has been on Earth for approximately 4200 years. Due to its characteristics it is classified as a IIIAB iron meteorite. The Henbury meteorite was found in Australia in 1931 for the first time by occidentals. The crater field is situated 11 km west-southwest of Henbury Cattle Station in the heart of arid Central Australia. It is known to have caused 13 to 14 craters ranging from 7 to 180 meters (23 to 591 ft) in diameter and up to 15 meters (49 ft) in depth. Shortly after the discovery, large quantities of this meteorite were removed from the area, and over the years the site has been almost completely cleaned. As a result, most of the area has been closed by the government and collecting is forbidden now.

On February 15, 1997 at 23:23 local time, a shower of small stones with over 1000 individuals fell near the Yellow River in China, 500 km south of Beijing. A brilliant fireball with smoke and sparks terminated in a loud, resonating explosion. The fall ellipse measured 10,5 x 4,3 km, oriented east-west. Juancheng meteorites instantly became an important collectible in China. Chinese meteorite and fossil dealers quickly went to the Juancheng site where they met hundreds of children with pieces they already found. Many specimens were given to Communist Party leaders. However, some material still made it to the West. The largest recovered piece weighed 2,7 kg, and the total mass is over 100 kg. Juancheng is classified as an ordinary chondrite H5.