Levitating Aletai meteorite, vertical presentation

The Aletai meteorite, first discovered in 1898 in the remote region of Xinjiang, China, is one of the largest meteorites ever found on Earth: more than 74 tons to date. It has fascinated scientists and collectors for more than 20 years because the strewn field is over 400km long, due to its very low penetration angle in the athmosphere. Initially spotted by local shepherds more than a century ago, the second piece was only found in 2004!
Over the past 20 years, several fragments of the parent meteorite have been extracted. The largest, weighing 28 tons, required colossal means to be moved. In 2011, it was officially classified as a coarse octahedrite of group IIIE-an. This classification is based on the magnificent motifs – the figures of Widmanstätten – visible only after cutting and acid treatment. This unique crystallization was made with an ultra slow cooling during a flight in the space of more than 4.5 billion years. An alloy that we do not know how to reproduce on earth...