Geologists In Search of Magnetic Field Stumble on Eastern Europe's Largest Meteorite

Geologists in Poland have unearthed the largest meteorite found to date in Eastern Europe.

Two meteorite hunters found the cone-shaped meteorite last month lying more than six feet (two meters) underground at the Morasko Meteorite Reserve just north of Poznan in Poland.

The meteorite weighs around 660 pounds (300 kilogram) and is rich in iron content with small traces of nickel. It is believed to have crash-landed some 5,000 years ago and is the biggest ever found in Eastern Europe. They noticed the meteorite while they were detecting electromagnetic anomalies in the earth's surface, Agence France-Presse reported.

"It was like a gold rush, we became very excited. We didn't even bother to eat - we just kept on digging," Professor Andrzej Muszynski told reporters in Poznan Wednesday, according to AFP.

Experts hope the findings will give some clues about the Earth's inner core, which is also composed of iron. "We know the Earth's core is composed of iron, but we can't study it. Here we have a guest from outer space which is similar in structure and we can easily examine it," Muszynski was quoted as telling reporters.

"This can broaden our knowledge about the origins of the universe," the geologist said.

This is not the first time that meteorites have been found in the Morasko Meteorite Reserve. The reserve contains seven meteor craters covering an area of 55 hectares (135.85 acres), and it was declared a natural reserve in 1976.

They were formed as a result of an impact of large iron meteorites that probably came from the Perseid shower which visits Earth every year in the middle of August, according to the website Poznań.pl.

Until now, around 3,300 pounds of small meteorites have been found in the Morasko reserve. Experts are planning to search for more meteorites in the region.