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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meteorite fall | 5/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_fall | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:53:37.329679+00:00 | kb-cron |
==== Meteorite of Siena ==== The publication of Chladnis book at Easter 1794 happened only six weeks before the well observed and documented meteorite fall of Siena in Italy. The Siena meteorite shower of 16 June 1794 was the first in modern times to occur in the vicinity of a major European city, which at the time had a population of nearly 30,000. Hence the meteorite fall was witnessed by so many people that its authenticity was difficult to dismiss. The observed fall sparked a lively controversy involving more than half a dozen scientists.
==== Meteorite of L'Aigle ==== A decisive turning point came with the meteorite fall of L'Aigle in France in 1803 and the documentation of this event by Jean-Baptiste Biot for the French scientific establishment; his systematic collection of testimony, mapping of the strewn field, and material comparisons helped convince much of the European scientific community that meteorites are real extraterrestrial falls.
=== Chemical analysis of meteorites === Another step forward into the future of meteoritics was the laboratory work of British chemist Edward Charles Howard and French mineralogist Jacques Louis, Comte de Bournon. They carried out analyses of samples of recently observed falls of Benares, Siena, Wold Cottage and Tabor together with samples from iron finds of Campo del Cielo, Krasnojarsk, Siratik and Steinbach. They published their results in 1801 and in an extended version in 1802 showing that - unlike ordinary terrestrial rocks - all the examined meteorites contained nickel, which is extremely rare in the Earth's crust and therefore implying a distinct class of materials.
=== Discovery of asteroids === The telescopic discovery of the first asteroids Ceres by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, Pallas by Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers in 1802 and Juno by Karl Ludwig Harding in 1804 revealed that the region between Mars and Jupiter contains small, planet-like bodies, from which rocky and metallic material could be delivered to Earth, providing a plausible extraterrestrial source for meteorites.
== List of meteorite falls ==
=== Historic falls (861 – 1794) ===
The table below lists all 40 historically accepted observed meteorite falls before April 1794, when Chladni published his book marking the beginning of meteoritics as a modern scientific field. The table is based on the classification of the Meteoritical Bulletin Database maintained by the Meteoritical Society, however - unlike the meteorites of Nōgata, Ensisheim or Hraschina - not all are well-documented and only half of the listed meteorites are preserved to date.
=== Recent falls (since 1959) === As of May 2026, there have been 474 approved meteorites with observed falls found since the beginning of 1959. The year 1959 marks the beginning of the era of instrumentally observed meteorite falls, with the meteorite of Přibram being the first. Before that, meteorite falls could only be observed by human eyes (and ears).
=== Falls before automated monitoring (1794 – 1959) === This table lists all meteorites with observed falls since 1794 and before 1959. In April 1794 the German natural scientists Ernst Chladni published his book "On the Origin of the Pallas Iron and Other Similar Iron Masses, and on Some Associated Natural Phenomena". This publication was a turning point in the understanding of meteorites because it argued – against the fashionable skepticism of the time – that the reported falls of stones and irons were real and that meteorites have their origin in cosmic space, linking them to bright fireballs. It was a groundbreaking work for the further development of scientific views since the late 18th century.
== See also == Glossary of meteoritics Meteorite fall statistics
== References ==