History of Aletai

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History of Aletai

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Aletai meteorites were discovered in 1898, in the Aletai region of the Xinjiang Province of China. The Aletai meteorite\'s strewn field (the area of which a meteorite is distributed after a fall) is approximately 430 kilometers, which is the largest strewn field known to date. Interestingly, scientists believe that this large strewn field is because the meteorites shallow angle of entry and trajectory of the fall created an effect similar to skipping a stone over water. This is highly unusual for meteorites, and studies on this could produce a similar effect in other incoming meteorites, potentially using the long-duration dissipation of energy to prevent a catastrophic meteorite impact on Earth.

More information from The Meteoritical Society Aletai Fall to the world year 1898 Total weight 74 ton