Iron, coarse octahedrite – IIAB Maritime Territory, Siberia, Russia

Lot Description:
Wrapped in a charcoal-hued patina with chrome highlights. This meteorite is from the low-altitude explosion described below. A rare aesthetic example, smooth striations embellishing twisted flanges reveal the seam upon which this meteorite was shorn apart. A hooked flange is at the crest while a deep socket punctuates the base. Testament to the massive force of the low-altitude explosion from which it originates.
59 x 57 x 28mm (2.33 x 2.25 x 1 in.)
263.9g (0.5 lb)

Part of the biggest meteorite shower since the dawn of civilization. Originating from the molten core of an asteroid, this meteorite was part of a low altitude explosion just above Earth’s surface. After having traveled hundreds of millions of years while orbiting the sun at about 11 miles a second in interplanetary space, on February 12, 1947 a giant mass punctured Earth’s atmosphere and began to break apart. The main mass created a fireball brighter than the Sun as it sailed over Siberia’s Sikhote-Alin Mountains. The shockwaves from the low-altitude explosion of the main mass collapsed chimneys, shattered windows and uprooted trees. Sonic booms were heard more than 300 kilometers away and a 33-kilometer long smoke trail persisted in the sky for several hours. To some witnesses, it appeared as if the sky itself was on fire. Many of the resulting meteorites produced impact craters as large as 26 meters — with nearly 200 craters having been catalogued. A famous painting of the event by artist and eye-witness P. I. Medvedev was issued as a stamp by the Soviet government in 1957 to commemorate what many likened to the end of the world. There are two types of Sikhote-Alin meteorites: the gently scalloped specimens that broke free of the main mass in the upper atmosphere and acquired the aerodynamic thumb prints known as “regmaglypts” (See lot 11), and the jagged and twisted specimens that resulted from the low-altitude explosion. This is an aesthetic example of the latter — and from the most frightening meteorite shower of modern times.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.