Hoba Meteorite | Tsumeb

Information

Landmark: Hoba Meteorite
City: Tsumeb
Country: Namibia
Continent: Africa

Hoba Meteorite, Tsumeb, Namibia, Africa

The Hoba Meteorite is a National Monument located on the farm Hoba West, approximately 24 km west of Grootfontein. It is the largest known meteorite on Earth and the most massive naturally occurring piece of iron found near the planet's surface.

Visual Characteristics

The meteorite is a tabular, metallic mass measuring roughly 2.7 by 2.7 meters, with a thickness of approximately 0.9 meters. It has a dark, rusted appearance due to iron oxidation. It sits in a stone-walled amphitheater designed to prevent further erosion and allow visitors to walk around the perimeter.

Location & Access Logistics

Access: Reached via the C42 and the D2859 gravel roads from Grootfontein.

Status: Declared a National Monument in 1955. The site is managed by the Heritage Council of Namibia.

Entry: Open daily from 08:00 to 17:00. A small entry fee is required at the reception.

Vehicle Type: Fully accessible by 2WD vehicles on well-graded gravel roads.

Scientific & Historical Origin

Arrival: Estimated to have crashed to Earth less than 80,000 years ago.

Discovery: Identified in 1920 by Jacobus Hermanus Brits while plowing his field. He struck the metal with his plow; the report noted that "the sound was like a great bell."

Composition: Classified as an Ataxite (a rare class of iron meteorite). It consists of approximately 84% iron, 16% nickel, and trace amounts of cobalt. It contains no internal Widmanstätten patterns.

Mass: Estimated at 60 tonnes. It has never been moved from its original impact site because of its extreme weight.

Key Highlights

No Crater: Unique among large meteorites, Hoba has no impact crater. Scientists hypothesize the atmosphere slowed its descent significantly, and it likely hit the ground at a low angle and "skipped" like a stone on water before coming to rest.

Information Centre: A small on-site museum explains the chemical composition and the history of the discovery.

Vandalism Recovery: The meteorite was previously subject to hacking and souvenir collection; since 1987, it has been protected by a donation from Rössing Uranium Ltd, which funded the current amphitheater and security.