Hoba
A find, recorded in 1920 in Namibia · 60 tonnes recovered · Iron, IVB
Hoba is the heaviest of the 30,841 meteorite finds with a complete record in NASA’s Meteorite Landings dataset (records to 2013). No other find recorded in Namibia is heavier; 15 finds there have complete records. Hoba outweighs every observed fall: the heaviest, Sikhote-Alin, recovered 23 tonnes.
- Group
- Iron meteorites
- Recorded position
- 19.583° S, 17.917° E
Rings every 500 km.
Seen-to-fall neighbours
Ovambo, 268 km to the north-west, is the nearest meteorite that someone saw arrive (1900). In 1920, the year Hoba entered the record, five meteorites were seen to fall: Merua in India, Kushiike in Japan, Aguila Blanca in Argentina and two others.
| # | Fall | Year | Class | Recovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ovambo | 1900 | L6 | 122 g | 268 km north-west |
| 2 | Ehole | 1961 | H5 | 2.4 kg | 336 km north-west |
| 3 | Jolomba | 1974 | LL6 | 483 g | 888 km north |
| 4 | Witsand Farm | 1932 | LL4 | 66 g | 1,015 km south |
| 5 | Lichtenberg | 1973 | H6 | 4 kg | 1,118 km south-east |
Hoba among other finds
In the record, 14 finds carry the label Iron, IVB, and no observed fall does. No observed fall in the record belongs to the iron IVB group. Among the other giant finds, Gibeon lies closest: 658 km away. Worldwide, the finds just above and below it are and Cape York (58 tonnes).
| Rank | Find | Class | Recorded | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hoba | Iron, IVB | 1920 | 60 tonnes |
| 2 | Gibeon | Iron, IVA | 1836 | 26 tonnes |