You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (August 2018) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 516 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Portuguese Wikipedia article at [[:pt:Meteorito do Bendegó]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|pt|Meteorito do Bendegó}} to the talk page.
The Bendegó Meteorite (also known as Pedra do Bendegó or simply Bendengó) is a meteorite found in the interior of the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is the largest iron meteorite ever found on Brazilian soil, weighing 5,360 kilograms (11,820 lb), measuring over 2 m (6.6 ft) in length.[1] It has been on display at the National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, since 1888.[2][3]
It survived the fire that destroyed the museum in 2018, sustaining no major damage.[4][5]
Discovery
The Bendegó meteorite was found in 1784 by the boy Domingos da Motta Botelho, who grazed cattle on a farm near the present town of Monte Santo, Bahia. At the time of its finding, it was the second largest meteorite in the world. Judging from the four-inch layer of oxidation upon which it rested, and the lost part of its lower portion, it is estimated that it had been in place for thousands of years.[6]
Transport to Museum
News of the finding quickly spread. In 1785, governor D. Rodrigues Menezes arranged for it to be transported to Salvador, however, the meteorite's excessive weight made transportation difficult. The cart it was on ran out of control down a hill and the meteorite fell into a dry stream bed, 180 meters away from the spot where it was originally found. It remained there until 1888, when it was recovered and brought to the National Museum.[5]
Description and composition
The meteorite is an irregular mass, 2.20 m × 1.45 m × 0.58 m (7.2 ft × 4.8 ft × 1.9 ft) reminding, in appearance, an asteroid. It has numerous depressions on the surface and cylindrical holes oriented parallel to its greater length. These holes were formed by the burning of the troilite, during the transatmospheric passage of the meteorite, since the sulfide has a lower melting point than the rest of the meteorite, consuming more quickly. It is a metallic meteorite, consisting basically of iron, with the following elements: 6.6% Ni, 0.47% Co, 0.22% P, and traces of S and C in much smaller quantities, only measured in parts per million.[7]
