meteorite Campo Del Cielo

Description

The Campo del Cielo meteorite is the desired meteorite that landed in northern Argentina about 5,000 years ago (between the provinces of Gran Chaco and Santiago del Estero).

The first finds of the meteorite were made in 1576 by Spanish conquerors, who learned about it from the indigenous Indians, who made their tools and weapons from it and apparently witnessed its impact, which is confirmed by a large number of their legends. The name Campo del Cielo itself comes from the Spanish translation of the Indian Piguen Nontralta, which means “heavenly place”.

The meteorite formed hundreds of craters after the impact, the largest of which is about 115 meters in diameter. Its impact field, in which the meteorite fragments are located, was about 20 x 3 kilometres. The largest piece of meteorite found was an incredible 37 tons and was found about 5 meters underground and its rescue lasted more than 10 years.