* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Jilin meteorite

Blobrana · L

Jilin Meteorite Museum

It is located in No. 100, Jilin Street, Jilin City. Situated at the south bank of beautiful Songhua River, the museum is close to Jiangnan Park and Shiji Square (Century Square) and is the only meteorite museum in China. At 15:02:36 on March 8, 1976, a rare meteorite shower fell in Yongji County, north suburb of Jilin City, Jilin Province, which is world well-known Jilin Meteorite Shower. It is the worlds largest meteorite shower with the largest number (138 specimens), the heaviest weight (more than 2,700 kg in total), and the widest scope (500 square kilometres). Of them, the No. 1 meteorite is the largest one known by human with a weight of 1,770 kg.
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Blobrana · L

The Jilin (Stone H5 chondrite) meteorite fell in Jilin, China, on the 8th March, 1976.
A total mass of 2,616 kg was recovered.

44° 3'N, 126° 10'E

At 2 minutes and 36 seconds after 3 o'clock on March 18th, 1976, meteors showered down on the northwestern suburbs of Jilin City and onYongji County, covering an area of 500 square kilometers. The 138 pieces of meteorite collected, weighed 2,616 kilograms. The largest piece, Meteorite 1 weighs 1,770 kilograms and isthe largest meteorite inthe world. The shower's wide coverage and the number of fragment collected and their combined weight are exceptionally rare. The meteorite specimens are on display in the Jilin Meteorite Museum, the only museum of its kind in China.
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Blobrana · L

In 1976, a rare large meteorite shower covering 500 square kilometres appeared in Jilin City. The largest meteorite, weighing 1,770 kilograms, occurred in the showers and was known as Meteorite No.1 of Jilin. Rarely has the world seen a meteorite with such a large scale, heavy weight and exact scientific records.
The last thermic event to affect the Jilin meteorite dates back 33,000 years. It may correspond to the collision of two asteroids and the breaking away of the Jilin fragment.
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Blobrana · L

One of the world's biggest meteorite, weighing 1,770kg; it is literally the star attraction of the Jilin City Museum in China's northeast province of Jilin.

According to records, a shower of meteorites rained down at 3pm on Aug 15, 1976, over a farmland measuring 500 sq km on the outskirts of the city.
Even though some 10,000 farmers were living in that area, all of them, including their animals, miraculously escaped unhurt.
Nearly 170 meteorites were collected, including three biggest ones weighing 1,770kg, 126kg and 120kg. They are now on display at the museum.

The meteorites were part of a 4.7 billion-year-old asteroid that split off eight million years ago and the splinters went off track.
These huge rocks have been flying around in the universe for millions of years before finding a home in the Jilin City Museum.

The more superstitious believed the fallen meteorites were bad omens as Chairman Mao Zedong died on Sept 6, 1976.
In the same year, two of his trusted leaders – Premier Zhou Enlai and Chief of the Red Army Field Marshal Zhu De – also passed away.

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