How big was the meteor that hit Siberia in 1908?
How big was the meteor that hit Siberia in 1908?
The exploding meteoroid was determined to have been an asteroid that measured about 17–20 metres (56–66 ft) across. It had an estimated initial mass of 11,000 tonnes and exploded with an energy release of approximately 500 kilotons.
What caused the Tunguska explosion in 1908?
A new theory explains the mysterious explosion in Siberia, scientists say, suggesting Earth barely escaped a far greater catastrophe.
How powerful was the Tunguska meteor?
The energy of the explosion is estimated to have been equivalent to the explosive force of as much as 15 megatons of TNT—a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945.
Where is Siberia?
Siberia, Russian Sibir, vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan, constituting all of northern Asia. Siberia extends from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of Mongolia and China. Siberia.
What caused the Siberian Meteor of 1908?
At 7:17 AM on the morning of June 30, 1908, a mysterious explosion occurred in the skies over Siberia. It was caused by the impact and breakup of a large meteorite, at an altitude roughly six kilometers in the atmosphere.
What was the size of the Tunguska meteor?
Studies have yielded different estimates of the meteoroid’s size, on the order of 50 to 190 metres (160 to 620 feet), depending on whether the body entered with a low or high speed. Since the 1908 event, there have been an estimated 1,000 scholarly papers (most in Russian) published on the Tunguska explosion.
What happened to the Tunguska crater?
In June 2007, scientists from the University of Bologna identified a lake in the Tunguska region as a possible impact crater from the event. They do not dispute that the Tunguska body exploded in mid-air but believe that a ten-metre fragment survived the explosion and struck the ground.
What is the exact location of the Tunguska explosion?
60°55′N 101°57′E / 60.917°N 101.950°E / 60.917; 101.950. The Tunguska event was a large explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908 (NS).
