As soon as I read the caption of this lovely, if frigid, picture I knew I was going to like it: it's an Envisat image of clouds forming east of the Russian Sikhote Alin mountains:
Sure, it's pretty and all, but what's so special about it? In 1947, a rain of iron fell on this mountain range. A metallic asteroid the size of a school bus came in from space and exploded over Russia, showering the area with iron fragments. Named for the region, Sikhote Alin meteorites are highly valued: they are from a witnessed event, and are quite lovely. I own several, because I love them. My favorite is shaped like Darth Vader's head! A documentary was made about the Sikhote Alin fall, and it's very cool; I wrote about it a few years back.
[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45losqysM3c[/embed]
Isn't that awesome? The meteorites those guys pick up so casually are ...
