23.11.2019

How many meteorites fall to earth. Meteorites that fell to Earth: the most-most (6 photos). The largest meteor shower

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The consequences of falling to the ground meteorites of various diameters

In a previous post, an assessment of the danger of an asteroid threat from space was given. And here we will consider what will happen if (when) a meteorite of one size or another still falls to Earth.

Meteor shower over Paris

The scenario and consequences of such an event as a fall to the Earth of a cosmic body, of course, depends on many factors. We list the main ones:

Space body size

This factor, of course, is paramount. Armageddon on our planet can arrange a meteorite 20 kilometers in size, so in this post we will consider scenarios for the fall of cosmic bodies on the planet ranging in size from a grain of dust to 15-20 km. More - there is no point, since in this case the scenario will be simple and obvious.

Compound

Small bodies of the solar system can have different composition and density. Therefore, there is a difference whether a stone or iron meteorite falls to the Earth, or a loose comet nucleus consisting of ice and snow. Accordingly, in order to inflict the same damage, the comet nucleus must be two to three times larger than the asteroid fragment (at the same fall velocity).

For reference: more than 90 percent of all meteorites are stone.

Speed

Also very important factor upon collision of bodies. After all, here there is a transition of the kinetic energy of motion into thermal energy. And the speed of entry of cosmic bodies into the atmosphere can vary significantly (from about 12 km / s to 73 km / s, for comets - even more).

The slowest meteorites are those that overtake the Earth or are overtaken by it. Accordingly, those flying towards us will add their speed to the orbital speed of the Earth, will pass through the atmosphere much faster, and the explosion from their impact on the surface will be many times more powerful.

Where will it fall

At sea or on land. It is difficult to say in which case the destruction will be greater, everything will just be different.

A meteorite may fall into storage nuclear weapons or to a nuclear power plant, then harm to environment may be more from radioactive contamination than from a meteorite impact (if relatively small).

Angle of incidence

Doesn't play a big role. At those huge speeds at which the cosmic body crashes into the planet, it does not matter at what angle it falls, since in any case the kinetic energy of motion will turn into thermal energy and be released in the form of an explosion. This energy does not depend on the angle of incidence, but only on mass and velocity. Therefore, by the way, all craters (on the Moon, for example) have a circular shape, and there are absolutely no craters in the form of some trenches drilled at an acute angle.

How do bodies of different diameters behave when they fall to the Earth

Up to several centimeters

They burn up completely in the atmosphere, leaving a bright trail several tens of kilometers long (a well-known phenomenon called meteor). The largest of them reach heights of 40-60 km, but most of these "dust particles" burn out at an altitude of more than 80 km.

Lyrid meteor shower photo 2009

A massive phenomenon - millions (!!) of meteors flare up in the atmosphere within just 1 hour. But, taking into account the brightness of the flares and the radius of the observer's view, at night in one hour you can see from several pieces to dozens of meteors (during meteor showers - more than a hundred). During the day, the mass of dust from meteors that has settled on the surface of our planet is estimated in hundreds, and even thousands of tons.

From centimeters to several meters

Fireballs- the brightest meteors, the brightness of the flash of which exceeds the brightness of the planet Venus. The flash may be accompanied by noise effects up to the sound of an explosion. After that, a smoky trail is left in the sky.

Fragments of cosmic bodies of this size reach the surface of our planet. It happens like this:

a meteoroid crashes into the Earth's atmosphere (height is about 120 km.);
almost immediately it heats up to the glow temperature, its speed gradually decreases;
falling, the body collects more and more air molecules in front of itself, that is, it creates a zone of increased pressure;
if at some point the flying cobblestone does not withstand the pressure created by it, then an explosion occurs;
at an altitude of several kilometers, the cosmic velocity of the body or its fragments is completely extinguished, and what is left begins to simply fall, obeying the force of gravity.

Bolide in the atmosphere

At the same time, stone meteoroids, and especially icy ones, are usually crushed into fragments from the explosion and heating. Metal can withstand pressure and fall to the surface entirely:

Iron meteorite "Goba" about 3 meters in size, which fell "entirely" 80 thousand years ago on the territory of modern Namibia (Africa)

If the speed of entry into the atmosphere was very high (oncoming trajectory), then such meteoroids are much less likely to reach the surface, since the force of their friction against the atmosphere will be much greater. The number of fragments into which a meteoroid breaks up can reach hundreds of thousands, the process of their fall is called a meteor shower.

Several tens of small (about 100 grams) fragments of meteorites can fall to Earth in the form of cosmic precipitation per day. Given that most of them fall into the ocean, and in general, they are difficult to distinguish from ordinary stones, they are quite rare to find.

The number of entries into our atmosphere of cosmic bodies about a meter in size - several times a year. If you are lucky, and the fall of such a body will be noticed, there is a chance to find decent fragments weighing hundreds of grams, or even kilograms.

17 meters - Chelyabinsk fireball

Superbolide - so sometimes called especially powerful explosions meteoroids, like that that exploded in February 2013 over Chelyabinsk. The initial size of the body that then entered the atmosphere according to various expert opinion varies, on average it is estimated at 17 meters. Weight - about 10,000 tons.

Chebarkul meteorite

The object entered the Earth's atmosphere at a very sharp angle (15-20°) at a speed of about 20 km/sec. It exploded in half a minute at an altitude of about 20 km. The power of the explosion was several hundred kilotons of TNT. This is 20 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, but here the consequences were not so fatal because the explosion occurred on high altitude and the energy dissipated large area, largely away from populated areas.

Less than a tenth of the initial mass of the meteoroid reached the Earth, that is, about a ton or less. The fragments scattered over an area more than 100 km long and about 20 km wide. Many small fragments were found, several weighing kilograms, the largest piece weighing 650 kg was raised from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul:

The largest found fragment of the Chebarkul (Chelyabinsk) meteorite, weight 650 kg

Damage: almost 5,000 buildings were damaged (mostly broken glass and frames), about 1.5 thousand people were injured by glass fragments.

Broken windows of houses - the consequences of a meteorite fall near Chelyabinsk

A body of this size could easily reach the surface without falling apart into fragments. This did not happen due to acute angle entrance, because before exploding, the meteoroid flew several hundred kilometers in the atmosphere. If the Chelyabinsk meteoroid fell vertically, then instead of an air shock wave that broke the glass, there would be a powerful impact on the surface, which would entail seismic shock, with the formation of a crater with a diameter of 200-300 meters. About the damage and the number of victims, in this case, judge for yourself, everything would depend on the place of the fall.

Concerning repetition rate such events, then after the Tunguska meteorite of 1908, this is the largest celestial body that fell to Earth. That is, one or more such guests from outer space can be expected in one century.

Tens of meters - small asteroids

Children's toys are over, let's move on to more serious things.

If you read the previous post, then you know that the small bodies of the solar system up to 30 meters in size are called meteoroids, more than 30 meters - asteroids.

If an asteroid, even the smallest one, meets the Earth, then it will definitely not fall apart in the atmosphere and its speed will not slow down to the speed of free fall, as happens with meteoroids. All the huge energy of its movement will be released in the form of an explosion - that is, it will turn into thermal energy, which will melt the asteroid itself, and mechanical energy, which will create a crater, scatter earth rock and fragments of the asteroid itself around, and also create a seismic wave.

To quantify the magnitude of such a phenomenon, consider an asteroid crater in Arizona as an example:

This crater was formed 50 thousand years ago from the impact of an iron asteroid with a diameter of 50-60 meters. The force of the explosion was 8000 Hiroshima, the diameter of the crater is 1.2 km, the depth is 200 meters, the edges rise above the surrounding surface by 40 meters.

Another event comparable in scale is the Tunguska meteorite. The power of the explosion was 3000 Hiroshima, but here there was a fall of a small comet nucleus with a diameter of tens to hundreds of meters, according to various estimates. Comet nuclei are often compared to dirty snow cakes, so in this case no crater arose, the comet exploded in the air and evaporated, knocking down a forest in the territory of 2 thousand years. square kilometers. If the same comet exploded over the center of modern Moscow, it would destroy all the houses up to the ring road.

Fall frequency asteroids tens of meters in size - once in several centuries, hundreds of meters - once in several thousand years.

300 meters - asteroid Apophis (the most dangerous known at the moment)

Although, according to the latest data from NASA, the probability of the Apophis asteroid hitting the Earth during its passage near our planet in 2029 and then in 2036 is almost zero, we still consider the scenario of the consequences of its possible fall, since there are many asteroids that have not yet been discovered, and such an event can still happen, not this time, but another time.

So .. the asteroid Apophis, contrary to all forecasts, falls to Earth

The power of the explosion is 15,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. When it hits the mainland, an impact crater appears with a diameter of 4-5 km and a depth of 400-500 meters, the shock wave demolishes all brick buildings in a zone with a radius of 50 km, less durable buildings, as well as trees fall at a distance of 100-150 kilometers from the place fall. A column of dust rises into the sky like a mushroom from nuclear explosion several kilometers high, then the dust begins to spread in different directions, and within a few days evenly spreads over the entire planet.

Comparison of destruction zones of the Tunguska meteorite and the asteroid Apophis

But, despite the greatly exaggerated horror stories that the media usually scare people with, nuclear winter and the end of the world will not come - the caliber of Apophis is not enough for this. According to the experience of powerful volcanic eruptions that took place in a not very long history, in which huge emissions of dust and ash into the atmosphere also occur, with such an explosion power, the effect of "nuclear winter" will be small - a fall average temperature on the planet by 1-2 degrees, after six months or a year everything returns to its place.

That is, this is not a global catastrophe, but a regional one - if Apophis gets into a small country, he will completely destroy it.

When Apophis enters the ocean, coastal areas will suffer from the tsunami. The height of the tsunami will depend on the distance to the place of impact - the initial wave will have a height of about 500 meters, but if Apophis falls into the center of the ocean, then 10-20-meter waves will reach the coast, which is also a lot, and the storm lasts with such mega- waves will be several hours. If the impact into the ocean occurs close to the coast, then surfers in coastal (and not only) cities will be able to ride such a wave: :) (sorry for the dark humor)

Tsunami caused by the fall of a small asteroid into the ocean

Recurrence frequency events of this magnitude in the history of the Earth is measured in tens of thousands of years.

Let's move on to global catastrophes ..

1 kilometer

The scenario is the same as during the fall of Apophis, only the scale of the consequences is many times more serious and already reaches the global catastrophe of the low threshold (the consequences are felt by all mankind, but there is no threat of the death of civilization):

The power of the explosion in "Hiroshima": 50,000, the size of the crater formed when it fell to land: 15-20 km. The radius of the destruction zone from the explosive and seismic waves: up to 1000 km.

When falling into the ocean, again, it all depends on the distance to the coast, since the resulting waves will be very high (1-2 km), but not long, and such waves fade rather quickly. But in any case, the area of flooded territories will be huge - millions of square kilometers.

The decrease in the transparency of the atmosphere in this case from emissions of dust and ash (or water vapor falling into the ocean) will be noticeable over several years. If you enter a seismically dangerous zone, the consequences can be aggravated by earthquakes provoked by the explosion.

However, an asteroid of this diameter will not be able to noticeably tilt the earth's axis or affect the period of rotation of our planet.

Despite not all the drama of this scenario, for the Earth this is a rather ordinary event, since it has already happened thousands of times throughout its existence. Average repetition frequency- once every 200-300 thousand years.

An asteroid with a diameter of 10 kilometers is a global catastrophe on a planetary scale

The power of the explosion in "Hiroshima": 50 million
The size of the crater formed when falling on land: 70-100 km, depth - 5-6 km.
cracking depth earth's crust will be tens of kilometers, that is, up to the mantle (the thickness of the earth's crust under the plains is on average 35 km). Magma will come to the surface.
The area of the destruction zone can be several percent of the Earth's area.
During the explosion, a cloud of dust and molten rock will rise to a height of tens of kilometers, possibly up to a hundred. The volume of ejected materials - several thousand cubic kilometers - is enough for a light "asteroid autumn", but not enough for an "asteroid winter" and the beginning of an ice age.
Secondary craters and tsunamis from fragments and large pieces of ejected rock.
A small, but by geological standards, a decent tilt of the earth's axis from the impact - up to 1/10 of a degree.
When it hits the ocean - a tsunami with kilometer (!!) waves that go far deep into the continents.
In the case of intense eruptions of volcanic gases, acid rain is possible later.

But this is not quite Armageddon yet! Even such grandiose catastrophes our planet has already experienced dozens or even hundreds of times. On average, this happens one once every 100 million years. If this happened at the present time, the number of victims would be unprecedented, in the worst case it could be measured in billions of people, moreover, it is not known what social upheavals this would lead to. However, despite the period of acid rain and several years of some cooling due to a decrease in the transparency of the atmosphere, in 10 years the climate and the biosphere would have fully recovered.

Armageddon

For such a significant event in the history of mankind, an asteroid 15-20 kilometers in size is required in the amount of 1 piece.

There will come another glacial period, most of the living organisms will die, but life on the planet will continue, although it will no longer be the same as before. As always, the fittest will survive.

Such events also happened repeatedly in the history of the Earth. Since the emergence of life on it, Armageddon has happened at least a few, and maybe dozens of times. It is believed that last time it happened 65 million years ( Chicxulub meteorite), when dinosaurs and almost all other species of living organisms died, only 5% of the elect remained, including our ancestors.

The death of dinosaurs from the fall of an asteroid

Full Armageddon

If a cosmic body the size of Texas crashes into our planet, as happened in famous movie with Bruce Willis, even bacteria will not survive (although, who knows?), life will have to arise and evolve again.

The death of the earth

Conclusion

I wanted to write a review post about meteorites, but the scenarios of Armageddon turned out. Therefore, I want to say that all the events described, starting with Apophis (inclusive), are considered as theoretically possible, since they will definitely not happen in the next hundred years at least. Why this is so is explained in detail in a previous post.

I also want to add that all the figures given here regarding the correspondence between the size of the meteorite and the consequences of its fall to Earth are very approximate. Data in different sources differ, plus the initial factors during the fall of an asteroid of the same diameter can vary greatly. For example, everywhere it is written that the size of the Chicxulub meteorite is 10 km, but in one, as it seemed to me, authoritative source, I read that a 10-kilometer stone could not do such troubles, so my Chicxulub meteorite entered the 15-20 km category .

So, if suddenly Apophis still falls in the 29th or 36th year, and the radius of the affected area will be very different from what is written here - write, I will correct it.

Astrophysicists from Canada claim that the mass of the meteorite stream bombarding our long-suffering planet exceeds 21 tons per year. But in most cases, this goes unnoticed, since a person can observe and find meteorites only in the habitable zone.

The share of land on the Earth's surface is only 29%, the rest of the planet is occupied by the oceans. But even from these 29%, it is necessary to take away places that are not inhabited by humans or are completely unsuitable for habitation. Therefore, finding a meteorite is a great success. However, there was a case when a meteorite itself found a person.

The case of a meteorite collision with a person

In the entire history of the fall of celestial bodies to Earth, only one officially documented case of direct contact of a meteorite with a person is known.

It happened in the USA on November 30, 1954. A four-kilogram meteorite, breaking through the roof of the house, injured the owner's leg. This means that there is still a risk that a more serious guest from outer space may fall on people's heads. I wonder what is the largest meteorite that fell on our planet?

Meteorites are divided into three categories: stony, stony-iron and iron. And each of these categories has its giants.

The largest stone meteorite

Relatively recently, on March 8, 1976, the cosmos presented the Chinese with a gift in the form of stones falling to the surface of the earth for 37 minutes. One of the fallen copies had a weight of 1.77 tons. It was the largest meteorite that fell to earth, having the structure of a stone. The incident occurred near the Chinese province of Jilin. The same name was given to the space guest.

Until now, the Jilin meteorite remains the largest stone meteorite discovered on earth.

The largest iron meteorite

Most big representative from the category of stony-iron meteorites weighed 1.5 tons. Found it in 1805 in Germany.

A colleague of the German meteorite, found in Australia, weighed only 100 kg less than the German one.

But everyone was surpassed by an iron guest from outer space, whose weight was ten times greater than all previously found meteorites.

The largest iron meteorite

In 1920, an iron meteorite with a diameter of 2.7 meters and weighing over 66 tons was discovered in the southwest of Namibia! Larger than this specimen on our planet has not yet been found. It turned out to be the largest meteorite that fell to Earth. The name was given to him in honor of the Goba West farm, whose owner stumbled upon him while cultivating the field. The approximate age of the iron block is 80 thousand years.

Today it is the largest solid block of natural iron.

In 1955, the largest meteorite that fell to earth, Goba, was declared a national monument and taken under state protection. This was a forced measure, since for 35 years, while the meteorite was in open access, he lost a mass of 6 tons. Part of the weight was lost as a result of natural processes - erosion. But the main contribution to the process of "weight loss" was made by numerous tourists. Now you can approach the celestial body only under supervision and for a fee.

The meteorites discussed above are, of course, the largest of their kind ever discovered. But the question of which is the largest meteorite fell to earth remained open.

The meteorite that killed the dinosaurs

Everyone knows sad story with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Scientists still argue about the cause of their death, but the version that the meteorite became the culprit of the tragedy remains the main one.

According to scientists, 65 million years ago, the Earth was hit by a huge meteorite that caused a catastrophe on a planetary scale. The meteorite fell on the territory that now belongs to Mexico - the Yucatan Peninsula, near the village of Chicxulub. Evidence of this fall was found in 1970 impact crater. But since the depression was filled with sedimentary rocks, they did not carefully examine the meteorite. And only 20 years later, scientists returned to its study.

As a result of the work carried out, it turned out that the funnel left by the meteorite has a diameter of 180 km. The diameter of the meteorite itself was about 10 km. The impact energy during the fall was 100,000 Gt in (this is comparable to the simultaneous explosion of 2,000,000 of the largest thermonuclear charges).

It is assumed that as a result of a meteorite impact, a tsunami was formed, the wave height varied from 50 to 100 meters. Dust particles raised during the impact tightly closed the Earth from the Sun for several years, which led to a sharp change in climate. and intermittent large-scale fires exacerbated the situation. An analogue of nuclear winter has come on the planet. As a result of the disaster, 75% of animal and plant species died out.

Nevertheless, officially the Chicxulub meteorite is the largest meteorite that fell to earth 65 million years ago. He practically destroyed all life on the planet. But in history, in terms of its size, it occupies only the third place.

First among the giants

Presumably 2 billion years ago, a meteorite fell to the Earth, which left a trace with a diameter of 300 km on its surface. The meteorite itself supposedly had a diameter of more than 15 km.

The crater left after the fall is located in South Africa, in the Free State province, and is called Vredefort. This is the largest impact crater, and left him the largest meteorite that fell to Earth in the entire history of our planet. In 2005, the Vredefort crater was listed as an object world heritage UNESCO. The largest meteorite that fell to Earth did not leave a photo as a memory of itself, but a huge scar in the form of a crater on the surface of our planet will not allow us to forget about it.

It has been noticed that the fall of meteorites, the size of which is measured at least tens of meters, occurs at intervals of hundreds of years. And meteorites bigger size fall even less frequently.

According to scientists, in 2029 a new guest wants to visit the Earth.

A meteorite named Apophis

The meteorite that threatens our planet was named Apophis (that was the name of the serpent god, who was the antipode of the sun god Ra in Ancient Egypt). Whether it will fall to the Earth or still miss and pass next to the planet is not known for certain. But what happens if a collision does occur?

The scenario of the collision of Apophis with the Earth

So, it is known that the diameter of Apophis is only 320 meters. When it falls to Earth, an explosion will occur, equal in its power to 15,000 bombs dropped on Hiroshima.

If Apophis hits the mainland, an impact crater will appear, having a depth of 400-500 meters and a diameter of up to 5 km. The resulting will destroy capital buildings at a distance of 50 km from the epicenter. Buildings that do not have the strength of a brick house will be destroyed at a distance of 100-150 km. A column of dust will rise to a height of several kilometers and then cover the entire planet.

The media stories about nuclear winter and the end of the world are overblown. The dimensions of the meteorite are too small for such consequences. It is possible to lower the temperature by 1-2 degrees, but after six months it will return to normal. That is, the predicted catastrophe, if it does happen, will be far from global.

If Apophis falls into the ocean, which is more likely, there will be a tsunami that will cover coastal areas. The height of the wave in this case will depend on the distance between the coast and the place where the meteorite fell. The initial wave can have a height of up to 500 meters, but if the fall of Apophis occurs in the center of the ocean, then the wave that reaches the coast will not exceed 10-20 meters. Although this is also quite serious. The storm will continue for several hours. All these events should be considered only as possible with some degree of probability. So will Apophis collide with our planet or not?

The probability of Apophis falling to Earth

Apophis will theoretically threaten our planet twice. The first time - in 2029, and then - in 2036. After conducting observations using radar installations, a group of scientists completely ruled out the possibility of a meteorite collision with the earth. As for the year 2036, today the chance of a meteorite colliding with the Earth is 1:250,000. And every year, as the accuracy of calculations increases, the probability of a collision decreases.

But even with this probability, various options forced deviation of Apophis from the course. Thus, Apophis is an object of interest rather than a threat.

In conclusion, I would like to note that meteorites are strongly destroyed when they enter the earth's atmosphere. When approaching the Earth, the speed of the fall of guests from space is 10-70 km / s, and when it comes into contact with the gaseous atmosphere, which has a rather high density, the temperature of the meteorite rises to a critical one, and it simply burns out or is very much destroyed. Thus, the atmosphere of our planet is the best protector against uninvited guests.

The huge asteroid 2012 TC4 is heading sovereignly towards Earth. The collision will occur, according to scientists, as early as October 12 this year. Its dimensions are unknown.

In the fall of 2012, scientists roughly calculated the size of a meteorite as it flew by the globe, so they were 15-40 meters wide.

Comparing with the meteorite in Chelyabinsk in the winter of 2013, it was almost 20 meters. Then one and a half thousand people were injured, and more than seven thousand buildings were damaged. So, future meeting with asteroid 2012 TC4 could do a lot more damage.

NASA has confirmed that a dangerous meteor will fly past our planet in October. This was reported in the report of specialists from the department and the European Space Agency.

The celestial body was discovered in autumn 2012 at the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii. Then it presented a significant danger to the Earth, rushing past us, only at a distance of 94,800 km from the Moon.

Asteroid 2012 TC4 is an elongated object that is moving fast. It is known that he approached our planet more than once. At the moment, astronomers are trying to find out what is the true gap between the asteroid and the Earth in 2017, as well as calculate the probability negative consequences this meeting.

Astrophysicists of the world this year counted 800 meteorites of comets and asteroids that can collide with the Earth. All of them are included in a special register. And the closer the date of a possible "meeting" with them, the more closely humanity follows the behavior of these objects.

On October 12, the next end of the world is “assigned”: on this day, the asteroid, codenamed 2012 TC4, will be at the closest possible distance from the Earth.

It is known that the length of the object is 40 meters, this amount of cosmic material is enough to cause enormous damage to our planet. And it will be much more serious than during the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite.

The percentage of collision between two celestial bodies is “negligible”, but it still exists. And astrophysicists are very carefully studying the trajectory of motion, the nature of the "behavior" of a celestial body, as well as external factors that affect him.

It is assumed that asteroid 2012 TC4 could have formed in one of the most unsafe regions for our planet - the Kuiper belt, where there is a cluster of objects flying in different directions.

Asteroid will collide with Earth 2017, October: cases of asteroid collision with Earth are unknown

The very threat in the form of asteroids is very insignificant: old cosmic bodies are destroyed, and it will take quite a long time to form new celestial bodies. That is, if it falls to the Earth dangerous object that it won't even be in a million years.

However, the Earth still periodically falls into the risk zone and, with enviable regularity, asteroids enter the earth's atmosphere. Most often this occurs in the areas of the Sahara, Gobi and Kalazar deserts. Scientists are in no hurry to publicize such moments: why give rise to unnecessary panic if there are no consequences for humanity?

In addition, as researchers from Carnegie University calculated, in order for an asteroid to really be dangerous, it must weigh between 30 and 60 tons. Although, if you remember what size it was Chelyabinsk meteorite, optimism may diminish.

It is worth noting that today scientists determine the weight of a space object by the brightness of the glow. But for asteroids, this technique is not very suitable. That is, the exact size of the 2012 TC4 has not yet been established, and the data announced by the Nasov team may turn out to be erroneous.

Cases of collision of asteroids with the Earth are not known. In this case, scientists also do not observe a 100% threat. Two factors cause fear: the proximity of its trajectory and our planet, and also the fact that the asteroid is not well understood, and therefore it is not possible to clearly predict its behavior.

The only indisputable fact is that even just flying by, a cosmic body can have Negative influence to the ground. It can provoke earthquakes, storms and other natural disasters. In the event of its fall, global catastrophes definitely await our Earth. And the place of his fall will be decisive whether he can survive at all.

Nothing can be said with certainty about the possibility of its fall. Astronomers do not make any predictions, because whether it will fall at all, and if it falls, then where, they do not know.

Large meteorite crashes into the ground

Although space- this is emptiness, but it has a mass of objects that rush through it without a rudder and without sails in different directions. These are icy comets, stone asteroids and fragments of both, called meteorites. All these objects, often in very unusual orbits, revolve around the Sun.

Earth collision with meteorites

It can happen (and it happens) that the orbits of these bodies and the Earth will intersect. Neither side can turn off the road and avoid a collision. Sometimes such collisions can be seen. So, in 1972, witnesses managed to film how a thousand-ton meteorite flew into the earth's atmosphere, flew very close to earth's surface and flew into space.

Tunguska meteorite

But many years ago, our planet was less fortunate. On June 30, 1908, at dawn, a fireball traced the sky near the Tunguska River in Siberia and exploded in the middle layers of the atmosphere. Coniferous trees were tumbled down over an area of about 2,000 square kilometers. Scientists believe that observers saw a meteorite or a comet about 100 meters across, which collapsed during its passage through the dense layers of the atmosphere.

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Fortunately, there are very few inhabitants in Siberia. Only one merchant was at a distance of about 60 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. His clothes were charred and blackened, but he himself remained alive. One can imagine how many lives such an explosion would take if it happened over major city. True, the destructive effect of the meteorite was not limited to Siberia. The explosion kicked up a huge amount of dust into the sky, which the wind carried throughout the Earth's atmosphere, causing temporary climate change and damaging ozone layer atmosphere.

Meteorites fell to the ground many times: one fell quite recently - we are talking, of course, about the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite. There are others, no less famous and much larger, the consequences of the fall of which were sometimes devastating.

1. Tunguska meteorite

On June 17, 1908, at seven o'clock local time, an air explosion with a capacity of about 50 megatons occurred in the area of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River - this power corresponds to the explosion of a hydrogen bomb. The explosion and the subsequent blast wave were recorded by observatories around the world, huge trees on the territory of 2000 km² from the alleged epicenter were uprooted, and not a single whole glass was left in the houses of the inhabitants. After that, for several more days, the sky and clouds in the area shone, including at night.

Local residents said that shortly before the explosion they saw a huge fireball flying across the sky. Unfortunately, given the year of the incident, not a single photograph of the balloon was taken.

None of the numerous research expeditions found any celestial body that could serve as the basis for the ball. At the same time, the first expedition arrived in the Tunguska region 19 years after the event described - in 1927.

The event is attributed to the fall of a large meteorite to Earth, later called the Tunguska meteorite, but scientists were unable to detect fragments of a celestial body or at least the substance remaining from its fall. However, an accumulation of microscopic silicate and magnetite balls was recorded in this place, which could not have arisen in this area for natural reasons, therefore they are attributed to cosmic origin.

It is still not known exactly what caused the explosion: there is no official hypothesis, but the meteorite nature of the phenomenon still seems the most likely.

2. Meteorite Tsarev

In December 1922, residents of the Astrakhan province were able to watch a stone fall from the sky: eyewitnesses said that the fireball was huge and made a deafening noise in flight. After that, an explosion was heard, and from the sky (again, according to eyewitnesses) it began to rain from stones - the next day, the farmers who lived in that area found fragments of stones of a strange shape and appearance in their fields.

The rumor about the incident quickly spread throughout Russia: expeditions arrived in the Astrakhan province, but for some reason they did not find traces of a meteorite fall. It was possible to find them only 50 years later, when plowing the fields of the Leninsky state farm - a total of 82 chondrite meteorites were found, and the fragments were scattered over an area of 25 km2. The largest fragment weighs 284 kg (now it can be seen in the Moscow Museum named after Fersman), the smallest - only 50 grams, and the composition of the samples clearly indicates their extraterrestrial origin.

The total weight of the fragments found is estimated at 1225 kg, while the fall of such a large celestial body did not cause significant damage.

3. Goba

The largest whole meteorite in the world is the Goba meteorite: it is located in Namibia and is a block weighing about 60 tons and a volume of 9 m³, consisting of 84% iron and 16% nickel with a small admixture of cobalt. The surface of the meteorite is iron without any impurities: there is no other solid piece of natural iron of this size on Earth.

Only dinosaurs could observe the fall of Goba to Earth: it fell on our planet in prehistoric times and for a long time was buried underground until a local farmer discovered him while plowing a field in 1920. Now the object has been given the status of a national monument, and anyone can see it for a small fee.

It is believed that when the meteorite fell, it weighed 90 tons, but over the millennia of being on the planet, erosion, vandalism and Scientific research caused a decrease in its mass to 60 tons. Unfortunately, the unique object continues to "lose weight" - many tourists consider it their duty to steal a piece as a keepsake.

4. Sikhote-Alin meteorite

February 12, 1947 in Ussuri taiga a huge block fell - the event could be observed by residents of the village of Beitsukhe in the Primorsky Territory: as always happens in the case of a meteorite fall, witnesses spoke of a huge fireball, the appearance and explosion of which was followed by a rain of iron fragments, which fell on an area of 35 km². The meteorite did not cause significant damage, but it broke through a series of funnels in the ground, the depth of one of which was six meters.

It is assumed that the mass of the meteorite at the time of entry into the Earth's atmosphere ranged from 60 to 100 tons: the largest fragment found weighs 23 tons and is considered one of the ten largest meteorites in the world. There are also several large blocks formed as a result of the explosion - now the fragments are stored in the Meteorite Collection of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Khabarovsk Regional Museum named after N. I. Grodekov.

5. Allende

Allende fell to Earth on February 8, 1969 in the Mexican state of Chihuahua - it is considered the largest carbonaceous meteorite on the planet, and at the time of its fall its mass was about five tons.

To date, Allende is the most studied meteorite in the world: its fragments are stored in many museums around the world, and it is notable primarily for being the oldest discovered body. solar system, whose age was accurately determined - it is about 4.567 billion years old.

In addition, a previously unknown mineral called pangit was found in its composition for the first time: scientists suggest that such a mineral is part of many space objects, in particular, asteroids.

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