A big stony-iron meteorite has been found in Altay prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China.
The above-earth part of the rock is 2.2-metre long and 1.25-metre tall, with a width of 1.2-metre.
Its weight is estimated at 25 tonnes (25,401kg), at least.
Meteorite expert Zhang Baolin of Beijing Planetarium said this one could probably be heavier than 30 tonnes, beating the record of the heaviest meteorite found in the country.
Zhang said one person gave him a small piece of 'rock' to be identified more than one year ago.
"But the moment I found out it was an iron meteorite and having been told of its actual size, I immediately went to Xinjiang to find it," he said, adding he failed to locate the meteorite on the past two expeditions.
Zhang said there were some names carved on the meteorite - believed to be done by the locals who had no ideal of its origin.
It is not known when the meteorite landed on Earth, but based on the carvings, the earliest record was in the 1980s.
Photos: Xinhua
Source: China Daily / Beijing Evening NewsPublished July 20 2011
Is that a crocodiles head? i cant see anything but now.
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