Massive remnant of meteor surfaces from Russian lake

(Image: Reuters/Anton Melinkov)

Normally rock stars draw crowds of photographers, rather than plain rocks – but this is no ordinary boulder. It could be the largest chunk of the Chelyabinsk meteorite discovered so far, recovered from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul this week.

The meteor exploded over Russia on 15 February this year, scattering fragments across the Chelyabinsk region. At the time researchers noted a large hole in the ice covering Lake Chebarkul, but efforts to recover leftover space rock turned up just a few small stones, only some of which were confirmed to be genuine.

This new-found piece, which measures 1.5 metres across and broke the scales at 570 kilograms, is still just a small part of the original meteor, thought to have been 17 metres across, with a mass of 10,000 tonnes. Researchers at Chelyabinsk State University are now analysing the rock to confirm its cosmic origins.

Not only did the Chelyabinsk meteor create some spectacular natural fireworks, it could also help to finally solve the mystery of the blast that flattened millions of trees in Tunguska in 1908.

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