Meteorit#
Meteorite, any solid particle from interplanetary space that falls to the ground in one or more pieces. Austrian scientists have made important contributions to meteorite research. Since 1820 characteristic structural features of iron meteorites have been named after the physicist A. Beckh von Widmannstaetter from Vienna (Widmannstaetten figures). Other significant research has been carried out by P. M. Partsch, W. v. Haidinger, G. Tschermak-Seysenegg, F. M. Berwerth and A. Brezina. The meteorite collection of the Vienna Museum of Natural History enjoys a world-wide reputation.
Meteorite finds in Austria include stony meteorites from Mauerkirchen
(Upper Austria 19 kg), Muehlau (Tirol, 5 kg), Lanzenkirchen
(Lower Austria, 5 kg), Prambachkirchen (Upper Austria,
2,12 kg), Ybbsitz (Lower Austria, 15 kg). Vitreous tektites
and moldavites (found at Stainz, Eggenburg, Horn and Radessen) are not
counted among meteorites. They were probably formed during the impact
of a meteorite, and the same is believed of the so-called "pumice
stone of Koefels" in the Oetztal valley in Tirol (koefelsite).
Literature#
A. Brezina, Die Meteoriten-Sammlung des k. k. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums am 1. Mai 1895, in: Annalen des Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums 10, 1896; W. Schnabel, Fund- und Entdeckungsgeschichte des Meteoriten von Ybbsitz, in: Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums 87, 1985.