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Friday, February 15, 2013

Victims of an explosion in the sky meteor Russian city center continues to grow

AFP PHOTO / 74.RU / Oleg KARGOPOLOVTrace objects suspected meteorite explosion on the city of Chelyabinsk, Ural, Friday (15/02/2013) morning.
Victims of an explosion in the sky meteor Russian city center continues to grow



Victims of an explosion in the sky meteor Russian city center continues to grow. According to the representative of the Russian Interior Ministry, the number of victims who suffered injuries continues to grow. Until now estimated to have reached 1,200.

Quoted by Reuters on Saturday (16/02/2013), of the 1,200 injured, 200 of whom were children. They generally suffer injuries due to glass shards buildings destroyed by the power of the meteor explosion. Thankfully, the day after the explosion, there were no reports of fatalities.

Russian Academy of Sciences previously predicted meteor that exploded weighing 10 tons and took off at supersonic speeds up to 54,000 kilometers per hour, before it exploded at an altitude of 30-50 kilometers from the surface.

A factory in the city of Chelyabinsk zinc helter-peranda. The roof of the factory covering an area of ​​600 square meters collapse.

The Russian government has deployed 20,000 officers disaster response and 3 helicopters to comb the victims of the incident.

Meteor exploded at around 09:20 local time. Some people had to record the moments before the explosion, and upload them on YouTube.

When a meteor exploded, had been a change in temperature in the vicinity of -6 degrees to -18 degrees Celsius and dark moments. The blast also briefly cut off telecommunication services.


According to estimates by experts, asteroid 2012 DA14 with a diameter of 45 meters across and not just hitting the Earth, Saturday (02/16/2013) early this morning.

However, the asteroid could reach the closest distance to the Earth throughout history observations of celestial objects.

Asteroids were dashed with a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour are in the closest point at a distance of 27,599 kilometers from the Earth's surface at about 02:25. Distance is lower than the geostationary satellite orbit, which is 36,000 miles.

However, all of the satellite is safe and no one was hit by the object. Asteroids were dashed away from Earth.

"He's gone away," said Paul Chidas of the program-obek Near Earth Objects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Despite half a football field in diameter and is relatively close distance to Earth, asteroid can not be seen with the naked eye. Need a telescope to observe overnight. Best observation places in southern Asia and Australia, including Indonesia.

Asteroid the size is much smaller than 9.6 km in diameter celestial bodies that allegedly crashed into Earth 65 million years ago caused the dinosaurs to extinction and decline in the Earth's temperature drastically.

However, if the asteroid to hit Earth 2012 DA14 though, the impact would be very damaging. Objects weighing 143,000 tons it can release energy equivalent of 2.4 million tons of TNT and sweep any surface area of ​​1942 square kilometers.

In comparison meteor that exploded over Russia in the sky Friday morning only about 15 meters in diameter and weighing 7,000 tons.

Some people had wondered whether the meteor in Russia and the arrival of this asteroid in touch. However, the analysis shows these two celestial objects are from different orbits that can be ascertained only by chance came to Earth almost simultaneously.

"However, it remains a rare and historic," said Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science.


In the last century, the meteor that exploded over Russia, Friday (15/02/2013) morning, is the largest celestial bodies that fell to Earth.

"Meteor Russia is the largest since 1908 when a meteor hit Tunguska, Siberia," NASA said in a statement released on the official website of the institution.

Margaret Campbell-Brown, an astronomer at the University of Ontario, Canada, said the object may have come from the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. Meteorites that fall to the surface of the possibilities of rock that also contain nickel and iron.

Meteor is estimated diameter of 15 meters and weighing 7,000 tons. However, when exploded, smaller size because most of its mass has been burned when penetrated the Earth's atmosphere.

Based on data recorded at infrasound monitoring network of nuclear weapons shows that the meteor was unleashing the power of hundreds of kilotons of energy. Its power is far greater than just nuclear weapons North Korea tested.

The experts at NASA estimates, meteor streaked with speeds of 18 kilometers per second. While the Russian Academy of Sciences estimates that the meteor exploded at an altitude between 30-50 kilometers above the surface of the ground.

The power of the explosion reached the equivalent of tens of hundreds of kilotons or so nuclear bombs to destroy wave kejutnya glass building underneath. Recent reports have 1,200 people became victims injured in the explosion. Generally, victims shards of glass buildings.

Reminds Tunguska

Events meteor explosion above the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia's central part, recalls the events that occurred on the mainland Tunguska Siberia in June 30, 1908. At that time, a celestial object suspected meteor or comet fragment exploded in the air as well.

For comparison, the Tunguska object exploded at an altitude of 5-10 kilometers from the object about 100 meters in diameter. The power of the explosion is estimated to 10-15 megatons of TNT equivalent or 1,000 times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

As a result of the explosion was so powerful, covering 2150 square kilometers of forest burned. The explosion is also expected to lead to strong onshore earthquake Richter scale 5 and heard from thousands of kilometers. However, due to take place in rural areas, no casualties recorded in this Tunguska event.


Throughout modern history, there has never been space objects that fell to the Earth's surface and cause casualties to 1,200 people as in Russia, Friday (15/02/2013) morning.

"I think hard to recall the past record when the victim fell as much due to similar objects. Very rare to the human toll that much," said Robert Massey, deputy executive secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) English.

He said, every day is actually no less than 100 tons fractional space object penetrates Earth's atmosphere. However, most of the burned down because its size is too small. In the evenings, often fractions of sand to gravel appears as a meteor shower in certain seasons.

It is believed to have no very large object that had hit the Earth. For example, a space object to a few kilometers in diameter that fell 65 million years ago and its theory, cause the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as changes in Earth's climate. However, the chances of it falling objects very rarely, only once in a million years.

Objects with a diameter of several meters to tens of meters more often entered the Earth's atmosphere. Often the objects of it not to hit the ground and shattered near the surface. However, the shock wave generated strong and devastating as happened in Russia yesterday.

Brigitte Zanda, a meteorite expert from the Museum Of Natural History in Paris, France, 85 percent said object as it falls into the sea. Then, 80 percent of the rest falls in the woods or desert.

"So the chances of falling in the city that many people are really very rare," he said.

Throughout modern history, there are two measuring several meters of space objects that crashed and exploded near the Earth's surface. Earlier, on June 30, 1908, an object is estimated meteor or comet fragment exploded well above Tunguska, Siberia.

Tunguska-sized object at about 100 feet and burn forest area of ​​2150 square kilometers. However, a fall in the interior, no human casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, a meteor in the city of Chelyabinsk, an industrial area in the central part of Russia, on Friday estimated size of 15 meters. Recent reports of injuries reached 1,200 people are commonly affected buildings shattered glass diempas shock wave.

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