In the northern part of Argentina, there is an area that the ancient Indians called Campo del Cielo, that is, "heavenly field". According to legend, in this area mysterious metal blocks often fell from the sky, which later gave the name to this area.
Information about Campo del Cielo is preserved in the old Spanish chronicles. In the 16th century, the conquistadors found huge lumps of iron there and used them to make swords and metal spearheads. Especially Erman de Miraville succeeded in this, who in 1576 accidentally discovered a huge block of pure iron among the swampy lowlands. Later, he several times came to this place and chipped off pieces of iron from the block, which he used for his needs.
The age of meteorites is mainly determined by the depth of their occurrence in the layers of the earth's crust, or rather, by the traces of these layers on the walls of the crater formed from the fall of a celestial body. It is believed that the age of the Campo del Cielo meteorite is approximately 4-6 thousand years. It is the second largest meteorite ever found in the world (after the Khoba meteorite).
In 1783, the head of one of the Argentine provinces, Don Rubin de Celis, relying on the documents of the Spaniards, organized an expedition to the iron block. After a long search, this lump was found. Rubin de Celis estimated that it weighed about fifteen tons. Despite the fact that later such expeditions were carried out several times, due to the lack of documents with which it would be possible to find this place, attempts to find the iron block again were unsuccessful.
Twenty years after the expedition of the prefect Don Rubin de Celis, a meteorite was discovered in the Campo del Cielo area, the weight of which was almost a ton. In 181, the largest piece of this meteorite, weighing 635 kilograms, was delivered to the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
Soon a piece of this meteorite was bought by the Englishman Woodbine Darish and donated it to the British Museum. Currently, this piece of space iron is installed on a pedestal in front of the entrance to the museum. Previously, part of the surface of the Campo del Cielo meteorite was polished so that museum visitors could see the structure of the metal by "Widmanstetten figures", which testify to the extraterrestrial origin of this meteorite.
Promotional video:
In the vicinity of Campo del Cielo, fragments of pure iron meteorites are still found today. Their weight ranges from several kilograms to tens of tons. In 1980, in this area near the small town of Gansedo, a fragment of a meteorite was discovered, which weighed 33 tons 400 kilograms. The American scientist Robert Hug came to Gansedo specifically to study the meteorite, who wanted to buy it and take it to the United States, but the Argentine authorities did not give permission for this.
Currently, the meteorite found in Gansedo is the second largest of all meteorites ever discovered on Earth. The largest meteorite that fell on our planet is the Hoba meteorite, which weighs about 60 tons. The fact that a large number of meteorites were found in the Campo del Cielo area at different times indicates that the so-called "meteor shower" was previously observed in this area. The proof is twenty-six craters in an area over 18 kilometers long and an average of about three kilometers wide. The largest crater, Laguna Negra, is over 5 meters deep and 115 meters in diameter.
According to experts, the stones hit the ground at a speed of 14,400 km / h. Some meteorites have punched deep holes in the surface. For example, a 14-ton block created a tunnel 25 meters long and about 8 meters deep. The asteroid weighed about 600 tons before being blown apart upon entering the atmosphere.
In 1961, Professor Cassidy from Columbia University, who at that time was the world's largest meteorite specialist, came to Campo del Cielo. The scientist organized an expedition that discovered a large number of hexaderites, that is, small meteorites made of metal. These meteorites consisted of chemically pure iron, the proportion of which reached 96%. In addition, they contained trace amounts of nickel, cobalt and phosphorus. The meteorites that had been found in Campo del Cielo before this time also had the same chemical composition. It is for this reason that a scientist from Columbia University concluded that all these meteorites are fragments of one celestial body.
But Professor Cassidy was more struck by the fact that the meteorites in Campo del Cielo were found at a distance of seventeen kilometers, while when a large meteorite explodes in the Earth's atmosphere, its fragments scatter in the form of an ellipse to a maximum of 1,600 meters.
New expeditions organized for a more detailed study of Campo del Cielo discovered new fragments of meteorites even on the Pacific coast, and were also found thousands of kilometers from Argentina - in Australia. Back in 1937, near the city of Hanbury, meteorites were found, which were located in an ancient crater about 8 meters deep and 175 meters in diameter. The largest meteorite found weighed 82 kilograms.
In 1969, an analysis was carried out to determine the chemical composition of a meteorite found near Hanbury, which showed that the meteorites found in Australia are almost completely identical to those found in Argentina. The area around the city of Hanbury is famous for the fact that there are a large number of ancient craters, the largest of which reaches a diameter of 200 meters. Typically, such craters have a relatively small diameter, rarely exceeding 18 meters.
Since the mid-30s of the XX century, excavations began here, as a result of which more than 800 fragments of a meteorite, which consisted of pure iron, were discovered. Also near Hanbury, four pieces of one large meteorite were found, weighing 200 kilograms. After analyzing the meteorites found in Argentina and Australia, Professor Cassidy concluded that several thousand years ago a huge meteorite revolved around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, gradually approaching the planet under the force of gravity. The meteorite could also be the second satellite of our planet.
This process could last more than a thousand years, but in the end this celestial body approached our planet so much that it crossed the Roche border, entered the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated into fragments of different masses and sizes. It was parts of this giant meteorite that were discovered at Campo del Cielo and Hanbury. With the help of radiocarbon analysis, it was possible to determine the approximate date of the disaster - 5,800 years ago.
On the basis of these data, it can be concluded that the fall of a giant meteorite to Earth occurred already during the existence of ancient civilizations, which left behind written monuments containing a description of the catastrophe. It was in these descriptions that references to the second natural satellite of the Earth and the catastrophe that was caused by its fall were found. Among the Sumerians who wrote on clay tablets, it was the goddess Innana, who crossed the sky and emitted a frightening radiance at the same time.
The ancient Greeks confirmed the fall of a giant meteorite in the myth of Phaethon. The mysterious celestial body, which was visible in the sky even in sunlight, was also mentioned in the myths and legends of Babylon, Ancient Egypt and Scandinavia, as well as among the peoples and tribes of Oceania. The theme of a giant meteorite falling to Earth was reflected in the myths of all one hundred and thirty Indian tribes of Central and South America.
As noted by the American astronomer Papper, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the description of the second natural satellite of the Earth and its fall found its mention among the tribes and nationalities living at such large distances from each other. The fact is that metal meteorites reflect sunlight from themselves, so they glow very brightly and are clearly visible in the sky even during the day. At the same time, the luminosity of a metal meteorite, which is called a fireball, exceeds the luminosity of the Moon in its brightness.
Due to the fact that the metal meteorite moved in an elliptical orbit, at certain times it passed very close to the Earth's atmosphere. At this time, the car was in contact with the upper atmosphere and became very hot. The brilliance of its glow was visible even in daylight. As the meteorite moved away from our planet and entered the icy coldness of space, it cooled down. According to Paper, it was the constant change in the temperature of the fireball that led to the destruction of the meteorite.
Fragments and parts of the meteorite were found over a large area from South America to Australia. This fact allows scientists to put forward a hypothesis that the bolide split in its orbit, and then entered the earth's atmosphere in the form of a "meteor shower." The largest pieces of the meteorite fell into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, thus causing waves of unprecedented sizes that circled the Earth.
In the myths of the Indians who lived in the Amazon Valley, it is described that the stars fell from the heavens, the earth was enveloped in darkness and it began to rain, which flooded everything. One of the Brazilian legends says that the water rose to such a height that the land was not visible, and the darkness and rain did not stop. Similar events are also described in the fifth book of the code of the Maya Indians, where it is said that the world collapsed, stars fell from heaven, crossing the sky with a fiery train, and the earth was covered with ash and shook from tremors.
All these myths and legends describe the events that accompanied the catastrophe - floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Scientists believe that the epicenter of the events associated with the fall of the meteorite was in the southern hemisphere of the Earth. Many researchers suggest that the events that followed the fall of the meteorite to Earth were vividly described in the biblical myth of the Flood.
Used materials from the site: re-actor.net