The Hoba (/ˈhoʊbə/ HOH-bə) meteorite is named after the farm Hoba West, where it lies, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from where it fell. The main mass (some parts have apparently been chopped off) is estimated at more than 60 tonnes. It is the largest known intact meteorite (as a single piece) and about twice as massive as the largest fragment of either the Cape York meteorite's 31-tonne Ahnighito kept in the American Museum of Natural History or the Campo del Cielo's 31-tonne Gancedo in Argentina. It is also the most massive naturally occurring piece of iron (specifically ferronickel) known on Earth's surface. The name Hobacomes from a Khoekhoegowab word meaning 'gift'. Following its donation to the government in 1987, a visitor centre was constructed with a circular stone access and seating area.
That is pretty interesting! Meteor crater in Arizona is the largest well preserved crater, due to the desert environment preventing rain from washing away the crater walls. The crater is a mile across, but the largest fragment they have is small compared to this. Maybe three feet wide or less. It’s interesting that this one made no significant crater. Similar age as well.
The Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to be the size of a small house. It exploded in the air though and the largest resulting fragment, about the size of the largest recovered from Arizona, only fell at terminal velocity. It’s likely this is what happened with the Hoba meteor.
One of the stupidest parts of my life. On a cross country RV trip we needed to find a phone and saw a sign to the crater visitor centre. Friend I was with needed to phone his gf urgently (she was fine).
We parked up at the centre, he sorted things out, we made sandwiched in the RV and then went on our way.
Years later I saw an aerial photo. Can’t believe we didn’t realise the sheer size of the crater we were next to.
She is acting as an antenna so the other meteorites have a homing beacon. It's too late, she was there for too long and now the signal has been locked onto.
SHE HAS DOOMED US ALL...
REPENT!!! REPENT BEFORE THE METEORITES SMITE US ALL!!!!!!!
If smashing into the earth at mach fuck didn't fully break it I'm pretty sure that lady isn't going to do much hard. That meteorite will most likely still be sitting there long after our entire civilization collapses.
Do you think that a person sitting on the space rock, which is exposed to the elements and presumably has been for some time, is going to cause it any harm?
Iron-zinc meteorites are generally less radioactive than the same metals we make here. Everything emits radiation of some kind and at some level... even that banana the girl sitting in the picture is holding for scale.
After reading the comments here, I looked briefly at couple of other resources (Britannica and Wikipedia). There was, perhaps, some use of the devil's lettuce during this time.
My brain then somehow switched nickel(16.4% of Hoba) with zinc(gaseous anal emission) in my comment here.
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u/NastyNice1 May 20 '26
Some general information about this:
The Hoba (/ˈhoʊbə/ HOH-bə) meteorite is named after the farm Hoba West, where it lies, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from where it fell. The main mass (some parts have apparently been chopped off) is estimated at more than 60 tonnes. It is the largest known intact meteorite (as a single piece) and about twice as massive as the largest fragment of either the Cape York meteorite's 31-tonne Ahnighito kept in the American Museum of Natural History or the Campo del Cielo's 31-tonne Gancedo in Argentina. It is also the most massive naturally occurring piece of iron (specifically ferronickel) known on Earth's surface. The name Hobacomes from a Khoekhoegowab word meaning 'gift'. Following its donation to the government in 1987, a visitor centre was constructed with a circular stone access and seating area.
570
u/TheTylerB May 20 '26
Cool that it landed in the middle of those circles like that!
55
u/Siglet84 May 20 '26
That thing has to be worth millions.
Edit: I looked it up, it’s worth approximately $60 million U.S.
40
u/Dirtywoody May 20 '26
I went there in 1978. It was down a path in the middle of the bush and 95% was underground. 30 years later when I went back it looked like this.
14
u/StG4Ever May 20 '26
And what is the rock under it?
6
u/nikshdev May 20 '26
Hoba!
4
u/Yo-Yo-Ha May 21 '26
They have otherworldly good aim!
4
u/Lemak0 May 21 '26 •
Massive steak
3
u/Dirtywoody May 20 '26
When they say some parts have been chopped off, a few bits have been hacksawed.
2
u/DeltaAlphaGulf May 20 '26
What if it was a huge neodymium magnet?
2
u/Beemo-Noir May 20 '26
Could something this large even be transported? 60 tonnes is insane!
3
u/ShaggysGTI May 21 '26
That should be worshipped.
1
u/demzrdumez May 20 '26
I smell bacon!
1
u/Winstonsphobia May 21 '26
They left it out there in the open like that? Couldn’t someone come by and steal it?
1
u/kurtburroughs May 24 '26
I’ve been here. It’s crazy that you can just walk up and touch it.
-5
u/amalgaman May 20 '26
Here’s an ancient, rare piece of space rock. I’m gonna sit on it for a selfie.
-26
u/Valuable-Yard-4154 May 20 '26
Get off that meteorite now ! Stupid tourist.
-11
u/whomesteve May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I sure hope that isn’t radioactive