Meteorites are rock samples that fall to the ground through the atmosphere of fragments of extraterrestrial objects, and are precious physical specimens for human direct understanding of solar system objects. On March 1976, 3, the world's largest stone meteorite rain fell on the plain area of more than 8 square kilometers in Jilin, and a total of 500 large meteorites were collected.
After these "extraterrestrial visitors" landed, Chinese and foreign scholars extensively participated in the research of Jilin meteorites and achieved fruitful scientific research results. It also laid the foundation for China's later deep space exploration.
Jilin meteorite comes from the asteroid belt, according to the mechanical analysis of its fall process and the study of orbits in the atmosphere, this asteroid before entering the Earth's atmosphere is about 1.7 meters in diameter, weighs about 4 tons, and is nearly spherical in shape. It caught up from the rear of the Earth at 1976:3 on March 8, 15, entered the atmosphere from east to west, and had a surface temperature of about 2000-3000 degrees Celsius when passing through the atmosphere.
According to the recollections of witnesses, a large fireball was seen roaring from the northeast of the sky, and it roared by the impact of the high temperature and high pressure airflow. It burst at an altitude of 19 kilometers above the ground, forming countless small fireballs, scattered in a rain-like manner to form the Jilin meteorite rain, and the most massive fragments fell in the front.
The landing of meteorites is accidental and random. In northern China in March, the weather had just warmed up, and meteorite No. 3 fell on farmland in Birch Factory Town, Yongji County. It penetrates 1.7 meters of permafrost, escapes 6.5 meters underground, and has a diameter of 2.1 meters. According to eyewitness recollections, the Jilin No. 1 meteorite exploded after it landed, and from a distance, the billowing smoke gradually formed a small "mushroom cloud", up to 50 meters high. The concentration of soot is extremely large. The splashed clumps of earth reached a distance of more than 150 meters.
The shock caused by the No. 1 meteorite was equivalent to a magnitude 7.1976 earthquake, and this shock wave was recorded by the earthquake stations of Jilin City and Fengman District, giving the Jilin meteorite rain an accurate time: March 3, 8 at 15:2:36. The Jilin No. <> meteorite has also become the largest stone meteorite in the world.
Jilin meteorite is an archaeological sample of the solar system, with a relatively complex history of cosmic ray irradiation, which has attracted great interest and attention from international meteorite researchers. Following the principle of win-win cooperation, equality and mutual benefit, China has donated Jilin meteorites (samples) to more than 12 laboratories in 40 countries, including the Max Planck Society in Germany, the University of California in the United States and the Polar Research Institute in Japan, and scientific research is carried out all over the world. Researchers in these countries have conducted cosmogenesis measurements after obtaining samples of the Jilin meteorite. The Jilin meteorite universe was found to be exposed to an age of about 100 million years.
Chinese scientists represented by Academician Ouyang Ziyuan have also obtained extremely rich scientific information through field investigation and multidisciplinary comprehensive research, proving that Jilin meteorite is a rare physical data for studying celestial evolution, origin of life, elemental origin and space technology, and is an extremely precious archaeological specimen of the universe. The research results of the Jilin meteorite have been recognized as examples of extraterrestrial material research. Through the study of Jilin meteorites, China has gradually formed a multidisciplinary scientific research team in meteoritics, cosmic chemistry and space geology that can conduct comprehensive research.
The ancient Chinese noticed meteors and meteorites very early. More than 2000,1809 years ago, the "Bamboo Book Chronicle" written by the Spring and Autumn Warring States Historical Official recorded that "ten years of the emperor, five stars are wrong, and meteorites are like rain in the night", recording a meteorite rain that occurred in the Xia Dynasty, that is, <> BC.
Today, with the increasing progress of society and the popularization of science, the public has a deeper and deeper understanding of the scientific value of Jilin meteorite. As an example, we take Jilin meteorite as the medium to carry out a series of science popularization activities of Jixing friends, which has now become a professional, academic and authoritative meteorite exchange platform, and a bridge for Chinese meteorite researchers to popularize science friends.
Reporter Cang Yan Shi Hongyu reported from Jilin City
Responsible Editor: [Li Ji]