Ensisheim meteorite

▪ astronomy

       meteorite whose descent from the sky onto a wheat field in Alsace (now part of France) in 1492 is one of the earliest instances of a meteorite fall on record. Maximilian I, who was proclaimed Holy Roman emperor soon afterward, assembled his council to determine the significance of this event; their verdict was that the meteorite was a favourable omen for success in Maximilian's wars with France and Turkey. Accordingly, Maximilian ordered the Ensisheim stone to be placed with an appropriate inscription in the local parish church. The meteorite was fixed to the wall with iron crampons to prevent it from wandering at night or departing in the same violent manner in which it had arrived. It resides in the town of Ensisheim today, although visitors in the intervening centuries chipped off all but 56 kg (123 pounds) of its original 127-kg mass. The Ensisheim meteorite is classified as an ordinary chondrite.

Harry Y. McSween, Jr.

 

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