Dr. Nagy I. Zoltán szerk.: Fragmenta Mineralogica Et Palaentologica 6. 1975. (Budapest, 1975)

tes, that the direction of this axis is "essentially different from the orientation of the path of the fire-ball which was from W to E (SZABÓ 1868). The length of the main axis of the extensive enveloping ellipse is of 6050 metres. In the SW corner of the enveloping ellipse, a muchsmaller other ellipse may be constructed; in the centre of this (designed by A on Fig. 5) occured the explosion of the first major detached fragment. Accordingly, on this smaller ellipse, having a main axis of 1000 metres and a width of 610 metres, were found, more than half of all the fragments collected by DUMA, namely 27 of them. The main axis of the enveloping ellipse is inclined to the W-E direction by 44 degrees, while that of the smaller ellipse has an inclination of 85 degrees. The center of the smaller ellipse (designed by A) could be regarded as the approximative central core of the explosion. However, the largest fragment having a weight of 294 kgs, was flying still further to a distance of 590 metres and reached the ground only on the administrative area of Uj-Stusica. (Fig. 6). Earlier literature investigated - other data being lacking (not uniquely in the case of the meteorite of Knahina, but also in all other cases) only the following questions: how much meteorites hit the ground and on how great an area, as well as the size and shape of the enveloping ellipse. In the present case (thanks to the ceraful data publication by SZABÓ) these investigations may be somwhat extended. According to the ideas of SZABÓ, the main axis of the elliptical area containing the meteorites is including an angle with the path direction W-E

. Connecting the hitting site of the most lately fragment of 294 kgs to the explosion centre A by a straight line, this line is inclined by 41 degrees, while the main axis is inclined by 44 degrees to the W-E direction. We are now asking the question: from a physical point of view, what is the meaning in the present case of the size and shape of the enveloping ellipse, as well as of the discrepancy existing between the direction of the main axis and that of the path of the meteoric body? The size and shape of the smaller ellipse connected to the explosion are characteristic data for the strength of the explosion and for the amount of matter which has explosed. The shape of the enveloping ellipse is without any significance: however the length of its main axis, as well as the distance of the most lately fallen fragment from the explosion centre are both valuable data for the reconstruction of the whole process. At first, it should be elucidated, in which way the conclusion was reached that the fragment of 294 kgs was that which has fallen latest among all the meteorites. Now, SZABÓ has observed and carefully verified, that not only the fragment of the weight of 294 kgs possessed a penetration channel in the soil which had (like the path of the original meteoric body having a weight of about 500 kgs) an orientation of W-E, but also the further big meteorites penetrated equally in a W-E direction into their channels. This is also supported by the position of the remains of'lawn relatively to the sites of penetration. The penetrating meteorites continued their path below the lawn cover to a distance of 15 to 90 metres, all of them in W-E direction. On the W side of the spot of penetration, no one single remain of grass has been found (SZABÓ 1868). In the case of smaller meteorites, which had not penetrated into the ground, burned grass was found consequently