The Hoba meteorite, the largest known meteorite, fell to Earth 80,000 years ago and weighs 66 tonnes. It was discovered in Namibia in 1920 and is made of 84% iron and 16% nickel. It left a small crater, possibly due to its flat shape and slowing to terminal velocity. Shooting stars are meteors that burn up in the atmosphere, and billions of meteoroids fall to Earth daily.
It’s one thing for a tree to make no sound when it falls in a forest, does it? – but what about a huge meteorite that leaves no craters when it falls to Earth? That’s what happened with the Hoba meteorite, believed to be the largest known meteorite to ever fall from the sky. The Hoba meteorite – named after the farm in Namibia where it was discovered in 1920 – weighs an estimated 66 tonnes (60 tons), but was barely noticeable at first, as it was just a black mark in an otherwise chalky field. Upon excavation, it was found that the meteorite was 84 percent iron and 16 percent nickel, having fallen to Earth about 80,000 years ago. As for why it created such a small crater upon impact, scientists can only speculate that it slowed to terminal velocity after passing through Earth’s atmosphere, perhaps aided by its flat shape. Today the meteorite remains exactly where it was discovered nearly 100 years ago.
Fell from the sky:
“Shooting stars” are actually meteors that burn up when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Perseids are a meteor shower that can be seen every year in mid to late summer.
Up to 4 billion meteoroids fall towards Earth every day, but most are too small to see.
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