Copyright - M.Bandli - Historic Meteorites
LIXNA
Dvinsk (Lasdany), Latvia
Fell July 12, 1820 - H4 Chondrite
A rapid fireball was witnessed over Lixna, travelling SSE to NNW followed by a meandering cloud of smoke. The fireball was likened to that of a flying, burning sheath of straw that grew into a gray ball the size of a full moon. It eventually broke up into many pieces and was followed by what was described as thunderous crashes and crackling like gunfire.
A farmer on the shore of Lake Kotup witnessed a heavy object hissing and falling into a deep portion of the lake. Two other workers who were harrowing a nearby field near the village of Lasdany saw another object covered in earth, which had impacted the ground only 20 steps away. One of the men touched the stone and burned his hand. The burn was later confirmed in a letter by the Count Plater Sieber as he described it as a redened swollen area on the man's finger. Both noted the heavy smell of sulfur in the air. Witnesses also reported objects falling in the forest and in a creek.
Lixna was obviously a multi-stone fall, but only 5.21 kg is preserved.
References:
Kuhlberg, C.A. (1868), Analyse und Beschreibung der Meteorite von Lixna. Naturkund. 23 -29.
Below: A old postcard showing the village of Lixna and the lake that at least one of the meteorites fell into.
Collection No. B85.1 - a 2.65 gram fragment from the first ever recorded Latvian fall. Sample was originally purchased by Al Lang from the Herb Obodda Collection of Minerals. The parent meteorite from where this sample came is now owned by Martin Horejsi.
Below: A series of four collection labels showing the parent meteorite's travels through several old collections.
