Wow. These are incredible videos.
Apparently a meteorite exploded over a Russian city called Chelyabinsk.
Some 4 to 5 hundred people reported injuries from broken glass and other incidental shrapnel when the shockwave of the incoming projectile exploded down into the city. No fatalities have been reported.
It is not yet known whether or not the meteorite broke apart completely or impacted in a location outside the city.
You will need Flash 10 or better to view this content.
You will need Flash 10 or better to view this content.
This is incredible.
You will need Flash 10 or better to view this content.
Slate has a far better collection of videos of the meteorite explosion.
Russian Times as well.
Simply mind-blowing.
Asteroid 2012 DA14, the size of a small building, is supposed to pass within 17,000 miles of the Earth today, February 15th, 2013. There has been no reports that the Russian meteorite event is at all related to the DA14 event but it is still an amazing and even unsettling coincidence.
If I were to speculate on any possible relationship, I could only imagine that the 2012 DA14 asteroid could possibly have been ripped apart by Earth's gravity if it encountered destructive tidal forces inside the Roche limit. Broken fragments could then have been explosively propelled into the atmosphere and onto the surface. This is of course flat out speculation, of course, and would be a rather fantastic scenario.
No comments:
Post a Comment