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Chelyabinsk meteor

Coordinates: 55°09′00″N 61°24′36″E / 55.150°N 61.410°E / 55.150; 61.410
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2013 Russian meteor event
Trail left by the meteor after it had passed over Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk meteor is located in Russia
Chelyabinsk meteor
Location of the meteor event
Date15 February 2013 (2013-02-15)
Time09:20 YEKT (UTC+06:00)
Location
Coordinates55°09′00″N 61°24′36″E / 55.150°N 61.410°E / 55.150; 61.410
Also known asChebarkul meteorite
CauseMeteor
Non-fatal injuries1,491[1]
Property damage3,000 damaged buildings, collapsed factory roof, shattered windows
See also: Chebarkul meteorite

On 15 February 2013, a meteoroid entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia at approximately 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC), becoming a brilliant fireball.[2][3][4] Moving at a speed of about 18 km/s (40,000 mph),[2][5][6] it passed over the southern Ural region and exploded in an air burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast. The air burst occurred at approximately 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 mi) above the ground.[2][7] The total energy released was equivalent to nearly 500 kilotons of TNT (2.1 PJ),[2][8][9] which would make it 20–30 times more powerful than the atomic bombs detonated at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[2][8][9][10] The meteor was significantly smaller than objects that are tracked through current efforts by space object scientists, and was not detected before atmospheric entry.[11]

Approximately 1,500[1] people were reported injured, mainly by glass from windows shattered by a shock wave; two were reported in serious condition.[8] As many as 3,000 buildings in six cities across the region were damaged as a result of the explosion and impacts.[12][13] The meteor created a dazzling light, bright enough to cast shadows during broad daylight in Chelyabinsk and to be observed in Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, and Orenburg Oblasts, the Republic of Bashkortostan, and in Kazakhstan. Eyewitnesses also felt intense heat from the fireball.[14]

The Chelyabinsk meteor is the largest object known to have entered the Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event, and the only such event known to have resulted in a large number of injuries.[15] The predicted close approach of the roughly 50 metre asteroid 2012 DA14 occurred about 15 hours later; Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory[16], Russian sources,[17] the European Space Agency[18] and NASA[2] indicated the two events could not have been related because they had different trajectories.

Initial reports

The meteor's path,[dubious – discuss] with Chelyabinsk marked.

Local residents witnessed extremely bright burning objects in the sky in Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, and Orenburg Oblasts, the Republic of Bashkortostan, and in neighbouring regions in Kazakhstan.[19][20][21] Amateur videos showed a fireball streaking across the sky and a loud air burst shortly afterwards.[22][23][24] The meteor event occurred at 09:20 Yekaterinburg time, several minutes after sunrise in Chelyabinsk, and minutes before sunrise in Yekaterinburg. At times the object seemed brighter than the rising sun,[25][26] and NASA later confirmed that the bolide, indeed, was brighter than the sun.[27] An image of the object was also taken shortly after it entered the atmosphere by the weather satellite Meteosat 9.[28] Witnesses in Chelyabinsk reported that the air of the city smelled like gunpowder.[28]

Technical details

Object and entry

According to the Russian Federal Space Agency, preliminary estimations of the object indicated a meteor moving at about 30 km/s at a "low trajectory." According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, the meteor entered the atmosphere at around 15 km/s.[5][6][28] The apparent radiant (the apparent position of origin of the meteor in the sky) from video recordings appears to have been above and to the left of the rising sun.[29]

Illustrating all "phases", from atmospheric entry to explosion: Meteoroid - Meteor (Bolide) - Meteorite.

Estimates of the size of the object ranged from a diameter of 17 m (56 ft) to a few metres.[2][30] In earlier reports, Russian scientists estimated the meteor weighed about 10 tons before it entered the Earth's atmosphere, and broke apart 30–50 km (20–30 miles) above ground.[31][32][33][34][35] The United States space agency NASA estimated the diameter of the bolide at about 17 m and its mass at about 10,000 tons.[36][37] The air burst and shock wave were large enough to register as a magnitude 2.7 seismic event.[38][39][40]

The Pattani Geographical Society said the passing of the meteor over Chelyabinsk caused three blasts of different power. The first explosion was the most powerful, and was preceded by a bright flash, which lasted about five seconds. Altitude estimates ranged from 70–30 km, with an explosive equivalent of roughly 500 kilotonnes of TNT (2,100 TJ),[n 1][41] and the hypocentre of the explosion was to the south of Chelyabinsk, in Yemanzhelinsk and Yuzhnouralsk. The shock wave reached Chelyabinsk two minutes 57 seconds later.[42] The infrasound waves given off by the explosions were detected by as many as 17 monitoring stations run by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, designed to detect nuclear weapons testing.[43] The most distant station to detect the explosion was 15,000 km away in Antarctica.[44]

The sample found by Ural Federal University scientists at Lake Chebarkul. The object is a part of what is therefore named the Chebarkul meteorite.

Analysis of CCTV and dash cam footage posted on-line indicates that the meteor approached from east by south, exploded about 40 km south of central Chelyabinsk above the town of Korkino at a height of 27 km, with fragments continuing in the general direction of Lake Chebarkul.[45][46][47]

On 17 February 2013, small meteorite fragments were found near the rim of circular hole in the ice on Lake Chebarkul by scientists from the Ural Federal University. They are ordinary chondrite meteorites and contain 10% iron. Scientists intend to name the fragments the Chebarkul meteorite. If accepted, the name will be published in the Bulletin of the Meteoritical Society.[48]

The last time a similar phenomenon was observed in the Chelyabinsk region was the Kunashak meteor shower of 1949, after which scientists recovered about 20 stones weighing over 200 kg in total.[49] The Chelyabinsk meteor is thought to be the biggest space object to hit Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event,[50][51] and the only such event known to have resulted in a large number of injuries.

Although it is not yet clear if the hole in Lake Chebarkul frozen surface is the result of an impact, scientists have collected 53 samples around the hole. The specimens are all under 1 cm in size and initial laboratory analysis confirmed their meteoric origin. A fragment large enough to cause the 6 metre-wide hole in the ice has yet to be found.[52][53][54]

In the neighboring country of Kazakhstan, officials said they were looking for two possible unidentified objects that may have impacted in Aktobe Province, Kazakhstan, adjacent to the affected Russian regions.[55][56]

Damage and injuries

Shattered windows in the Chelyabinsk Drama Theatre

As of 18 February 2013, 1,491[1] people have requested medical attention in Chelyabinsk Oblast, including 311 children. Health officials said 112 people had been hospitalized, with two reported to be in serious condition. A 52-year-old woman with a broken spine was flown to Moscow for treatment.[57] Most people were hurt by shattered glass.[8] After the blast, car alarms went off and mobile phone networks were interrupted.[58] Office buildings in Chelyabinsk were evacuated. Classes for all Chelyabinsk schools were cancelled, mainly due to broken windows.[28] At least 20 children were injured when the windows of a school and kindergarten burst at 09:22.[59]

A report the day after the event by Russia Today listed "3,724 apartments, 671 educational institutions, 69 cultural facilities, 34 hospitals and clinics, 11 social facilities and five sport venues in the Chelyabinsk region..." that needed repairs as a result of the shock wave damage. Approximately 100,000 or so homeowners were affected according to Mikhail Yurevichto, the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region.[60]

The collapsed roof of a zinc factory in Chelyabinsk

Following the event, government officials in Chelyabinsk asked parents to take their children home from schools.[61] An interior ministry spokesman said that approximately 600 m² (24.5 x 24.5 m) of a roof at a zinc factory collapsed during the event.[62] Residents in Chelyabinsk whose windows were smashed were scrambling to cover the openings with anything available, as the temperature in Chelyabinsk and in the impact area was -15°C.[30][63][64]

The Chelyabinsk Oblast Governor Mikhail Yurevich expressed that preserving the central heating system of the city is the primary goal of the authorities.[28] He estimated damage from the event at no less than 1 billion rubles[65] (approximately US$33 million). Chelyabinsk authorities said that the broken windows (but not balcony glazing) of apartment homes will be replaced at the state's expense.[66]

One of the buildings damaged in the blast was the Traktor Sport Palace, home arena of Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The arena will be closed for inspection, affecting various events scheduled in the arena, and possibly the postseason of the KHL.[67]

Reactions

Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia, confirmed a meteor had struck Russia and said it proves the “entire planet” is vulnerable to meteors and a spaceguard system is needed to protect the planet from similar events in the future.[22][68] Dmitry Rogozin, the deputy prime minister, proposed that there should be an international program that would alert countries to “objects of an extraterrestrial origin”.[69]

On the same day of the impact, Bloomberg reported that the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs had unveiled the "Action Team on Near-Earth Objects", a proposed global asteroid warning network system, in face of 2012 DA14's approach.[70][71]

Colonel General Nikolay Bogdanov, commander of the Central Military District, created task forces that were directed to the alleged impact areas to search for fragments of the meteor and to monitor the situation. Meteorites (fragments) measuring from 5 mm to 1 cm have been reported to have been found one kilometre from Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region.[72]

Media coverage

Meteor Air Burst
video icon Explosion eyewitness
video icon Video on YouTube
video icon Bright light and sound recorded by surveillance camera

The Russian government put out a brief statement within an hour of the event.[73] Discussion on social media sites started almost immediately after the event, and heavy coverage by the international media had begun by the time the Associated Press put out a brief report with the Russian government's confirmation less than two hours after the event.[73][74] Less than 15 hours after the meteor impact, videos related to the event had been viewed millions of times.[75]

The number of victims of the meteor led Google to pull a Google Doodle on asteroid 2012 DA14 from their website,[76] even though the meteor and asteroid are unrelated.

Coincidental asteroid approach

Comparison of the former orbit of the Chelyabinsk meteor (larger elliptical blue orbit) and asteroid 2012 DA14 (smaller circular blue orbit), showing they are dissimilar.

Preliminary calculations showed the event was not related to the 15 February close approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 that subsequently passed the Earth at a distance of 27,700 km.[25][77] The Chelyabinsk meteor was moving from north to south,[dubious – discuss] whereas the trajectory of the 2012 DA14 asteroid is from south to north.[77][78][79]

The meteor occurred 16 hours before the approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 to the Earth, which was the "closest ever predicted Earth approach" of an object its size.[80] Phil Plait said they were unlikely to be related because the objects were almost 500,000 kilometres apart and seemed to be travelling in different directions.[25] After an initial analysis of photographs from the site, scientists at the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory in Northern Finland concluded that the two trajectories were widely different.[16] Marco Langbroek (VU University Amsterdam) pointed out that it is impossible for fragments in orbits similar to that of 2012 DA14 to enter the atmosphere at a latitude as high as 55 degrees north: as seen from the approach direction of such fragments, 55 degrees north is located on the back side of Earth.[81] NASA also released a statement saying that 2012 DA14 and the meteor that exploded over Russia had "significantly different" trajectories and that the two were not related.[80]

Although asteroid 2012 DA14 was unrelated, scientists are still investigating other reports of meteors at around the same time.[82]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ According to the measurements from the other side of the city though, if the height of the blast is measured at about 30 km, the power of the explosion would range from 0.1 to 1 kiloton.

References

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Attribution
  • This article contains portions of text translated from the corresponding article of the Russian Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there in the History section.
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