Meteoroid explosion in Russia

[Yurik]

Nothing invigorates the morning as meteorite

 

[Sky Captain]

Astronomers from St Petersburg rate the object (without any own observations) at multiple 10,000s tons of mass... if it would be made of rock, this is already achieved at 8000 cubic meters of material (25 meter diameter), iron would already reach this at half the volume (18 meter diameter).

That's quite large. IIRC the Tunguska object was estimated to be of similar mass. However in this case explosion was much weaker. Lower entry velocity maybe?

 

[4throck]

I'd wait for some orbit determination before any conclusions. Nevertheless, these things tend to come in pairs, because of breakup of parent bodies.
But all those observations must be collected, headings and directions determined, so that you can derive an orbit, mass, etc. That's a valid amateur astronomer project. :thumbup:

 

[garyw]

I'd wait for some orbit determination before any conclusions.

I agree. It will be interesting to see if this is a rock we knew about but had lost or miscalcuated or if it's a totally unknown one.

it's also interesting that we've got this russian impact and 2012 DA14 this evening but the two are unrelated. It shows how busy space can be.

 

[Sky Captain]

http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/

Russian space agency Roskosmos has confirmed the object that crashed in the Chelyabinsk region is a meteorite: “According to preliminary estimates, this space object is of non-technogenic origin and qualifies as a meteorite. It was moving at a low trajectory with a speed of about 30 km/s.”

That's quite fast. If that speed is correct that thing couldn't be more than maybe 5 meters in size othervise there would have been multi megaton blast.

 

[garyw]

this is a great video of it. First of all you see the trail then hear the windows shatter and multiple sonic bombs. The rock definitely shattered into many pieces. I count at least 20 sonic booms as the fragments decelerate.

 

[SiberianTiger]

this is a great video of it. First of all you see the trail then hear the windows shatter and multiple sonic bombs. The rock definitely shattered into many pieces. I count at least 20 sonic booms as the fragments decelerate.

What the videos with Chelyabinsk meteor blast reveal, that Russia is by far less Orthodox as some hope, no one shouts "God forbid!" or "Mercy on me!", but rather people are swearing like 10,000 devils! :rofl:

 

[Scorpius]

Another video and photo compilation:

http://say26.com/meteorite-in-russia-all-videos-in-one-place

 

[Screamer7]

I also nearly jump the gun on this one.
My first thought was that a piece of 2012 DA14 was the culprit.
The flightpath of 2012 DA14 was on the same orbital line where this meteor struck
But 2012 DA14 flightpath come from the south east and if I understood it correctly, this meteor moved from the south west to the northeast.

 

[Urwumpe]

I also nearly jump the gun on this one.
My first thought was that a piece of 2012 DA14 was the culprit.
The flightpath of 2012 DA14 was on the same orbital line where this meteor struck
But 2012 DA14 flightpath come from the south east and if I understood it correctly, this meteor moved from the south west to the northeast.

It also arrived on Earth 14 hours earlier and from a completely different region of space. And, if the 30 km/s velocity are verified, it was also twice as fast as what 2012 DA14 could achieve during a reentry on Earth, if the trajectory of today would have been a few hours later.

The usual crackpots in a local computer forum are already raging how scientists could declare these events for not connected, if it is sooo obvious that they must be connected. Scientists have no clue.

---------- Post added at 01:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:24 PM ----------

The Russian state TV "Channel One Russia" (1TV.RU) has located the impact crater of the bolide in Derweze, Turkmenistan.

 

[csanders]

The usual crackpots in a local computer forum are already raging how scientists could declare these events for not connected, if it is sooo obvious that they must be connected. Scientists have no clue.

Those silly scientists, with their trajectories, and probability statics and such as. What do they know, amirite?

We live in amazing times, where I can wake up in the morning, and see videos of a meteor airburst that happened half way around the world a few hours earlier. Meanwhile on CNN, I'm learning about urine soaked mattresses from a Carnival cruise ship that lost power. Stupid TV news.

 

[Eraser]

I was in the office and missed the show. Many of my friends have seen it, and then called and told me. We, in Tyumen, did not get any shock wave just flash.

 

[Kyle]

Reported that there are over 550 injuries on CNN related to the meteorite. Just woke up and read about this. I agree that it doesn't appear to be related to 2012 DA14, just a huge coincidence.

EDIT -- now 725 people injured. *How* is this not the top story on the news right now? CNN and of course, Fox News, is far more focused on ignoring it in favor of how a few thousand people had to sleep without Wi-Fi in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[Urwumpe]

In German news, the count is already 950 injuries, 2 in critical state.

 

[Sky Captain]

http://rt.com/news/russia-meteor-meteorite-asteroid-chelyabinsk-291/

Saw the mass estimate that it was around 50 tons. If it came at 30 km/s the yield of airburst would be in several kiloton range.

 

[SiberianTiger]

NOAA's picture's of the meteorite's contrail:

 

[Urwumpe]

http://rt.com/news/russia-meteor-meteorite-asteroid-chelyabinsk-291/

Saw the mass estimate that it was around 50 tons. If it came at 30 km/s the yield of airburst would be in several kiloton range.

Most recent estimates are at 10 tons and 30 km/s. Still nasty. (1.07 kT TNT equivalent)

 

[SiberianTiger]

Meanwhile some voluntary smashing of people's own windows, done in hope of a free replacement by the regional government, were reported across Chelyabinsk. Oh well, this is reported by the regional press service...

 

[Urwumpe]

Meanwhile some voluntary smashing of people's own windows, done in hope of a free replacement by the regional government, were reported across Chelyabinsk. Oh well, this is reported by the regional press service...

In Germany, nobody has an insurance against meteor strikes. When a plane crashes in your house, the insurance of the plane owner would pay. When a terrorist levels your house, the government would pay. For flooding, forest fires or snow storms, you can get a elementary damage insurance. But not for meteor strikes.

In that context, thank you for catching the meteor before it hit us.

 

[csanders]

I just want to say I'm glad I first read about this here, where people are well versed on orbital mechanics/physics, because I just checked out some other forums... and wow... ignorant nutjobs everywhere.