The Hoba meteorite in the African country of Namibia, weighing 60 tons, is known to be the largest meteorite in the world today. This meteorite is so large and heavy that it has not been moved for more than a century since its discovery.
The meteorite was discovered in 1920 by Jacobus Hermanus Brits, owner of the Hoba West farm, in the Otjozondjupa region of northeastern Namibia.
At that time, while plowing the field, Mr. Brits suddenly heard a loud metallic scraping sound and the plow stopped abruptly.
Not long after, the metal object was dug up from the ground and proved to be a meteorite, which caught the attention of scientists .
The Hoba meteorite measures approximately 2.95m x 2.84m x 0.91m. It contains approximately 82.4% iron, 16.4% nickel and 0.76% cobalt, as well as trace elements such as chromium, gallium, germanium, iridium, carbon, copper, sulfur and zinc.
The Hoba meteorite is an alloy. (Photo: Galyna Andrushko/ Shutterstock).
The age of this meteorite ranges from 190 to 410 million years, and due to the presence of a rare element nickel, scientists have been unable to determine the correct age of the Hoba meteorite.
Scientists believe the Hoba meteorite hit Earth about 80,000 years ago. However, strangely, there is no crater where the meteorite was found.
One theory is that the meteorite hit the surface at a very slow speed. Scientists believe that is why it was flattened.
In an effort to control the destruction, with the permission of the rancher, the government of South West Africa (now Namibia) declared the Hoba meteorite a national monument on March 15, 1955.
In 1987, the farm's owners donated the meteorite and the site where it lies to the state for educational purposes.
Later that year, the government opened a tourist center there. They excavated the surrounding area and built an exhibition area for the meteorite. As a result of these efforts, the Hoba meteorite has been vandalized and is now visited by thousands of tourists each year. For a small fee, tourists can come here to see the Hoba meteorite, the largest in the world.
(According to Business)
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