Russian meteor shower causes blast; hundreds injured

[JamesSavik]

Russian meteor shower causes blast; hundreds injured

Boriana Milanova, CNN

updated 3:50 AM EST, Fri February 15, 2013

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

 

A meteor shower sparked an explosion that left 250 people injured Friday in southern Russia, state media reported.

 

Of the hundreds, at least three were critically injured by broken glass, state-run RIA Novosti reported.

 

A bright white flash appeared in the sky for a few seconds, followed by a heavy "bang" that sounded like a blast, according to Russian News Agency Itar-Tass.

The meteorite fell 50 miles (80 km) from Satka city, Itar-Tass reported.

 

Russian emergency officials said the meteorite was destroyed after it partially burned in the lower atmosphere over the Ural district.

 

Glass broke in high rise buildings, causing the injuries, the the Russian Emergency Ministry said in a statement.

 

______________________________________________

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c-0iwBEswE

 

________________________________

 

 

400 Injured by Blasts as Meteor Falls in Russia

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/meteorite-falls-russian-urals-18508752

 

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press

MOSCOW February 15, 2013 (AP)

 

A meteorite contrail is seen in Chelyabinsk region on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. A meteor streaked across the sky of Russia?s Ural Mountains, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring around 100 people, including many hurt by broken glass.

 

A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass.

 

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

 

"We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

 

Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.

 

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions.

 

Kolsenikov also said about 600 square meters (6000 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed.

 

Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteor.

 

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

 

Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles (28,000 kilometers). There was no immediate demonstrable connection.

 

Small pieces of space debris — usually parts of comets or asteroids — that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere they are called meteors. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictional heating and strike the surface of the Earth they are called meteorites.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2013 by jamessavik

[Maximoff]

The numbers of injured is up towards 400 now. Mostly from the shockwave and debris. Light cuts and cuncussions. 

 

It's scary. But luckily it was in the outskirts in Russia. What if it was in NYC and it hit one of the skyscrapers? Are skyscrapers built to be meteorite impact-proof? 

But it raises the issue of how to deflect or protect ourselves from meteorites in the future? Apparently sending Bruce Willis and co. to it and set off nuclear explosions won't work.

 

For awesome blog post and if you're not already following Bad Astronomy, you should. 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4ZxXYscmgRg#!

Dashboard camera showing the meteor falling from the sky. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b0cRHsApzt8

Heart is pounding after hearing the loud BANG.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Maximoff

[Zombie]

A terrible event for those injured and killed, but that is stunning video. These events are not uncommon but rarely captured on video or film and never before, as far as I know, the whole event and in such high quality. A professional cameraman, knowing what was coming, could not have done a better job. Shame the Great Daylight Fireball could only be captured in such poor quality in 1972 - again pure chance a tourist happened to film it at Grand Teton. At the time  this was claimed to be a UFO, but we now know it was probably a small asteroid a few metres in size - below what we can currently detect - and at such a shallow angle it just grazed the Earth's atmosphere before bouncing back into space. If it had impacted or exploded it would have done considerable damage. But it was only Canada so it wouldn't really have mattered

Edited February 15, 2013 by Zombie

[Fishwings]

Does anyone know if there were any associated casualties, or just injuries? As for skyscrapers being meteor proof, I don't think so. A descending meteor is pretty much akin to a descending bomb.

 

Here is a pretty good view of it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QIMKQihoYRI

[C J]

Yikes!  All those big rocks flying around are scary!   There's another one coming and it looks like it wants to visit earth.  I'm going to have a good day today because I might not get a chance tomorrow.

[Benji]

...................

On behalf of the Gay community, we would like to apologize for the meteors !

That'll save them some time tomorrow.   Taken from WOH   

[MikeL]

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.  ~  Friedrich Nietzsche

[JamesSavik]

JPL scientists estimate that yesterdays meteor was ~30 tons and as big as a semi trailer.

 

It has been called a "once in a century event".

[Celethiel]

could be worse, could be hundreds dead.

[hh5]

its amazing how popular russia is at getting exploding meteorites ... so far i dunno any in canada  

but its not the same strength like the one that flatten trees in siberia

 

is the news right it was 30miles above earth ... it look like 30k ft not 30 miles

[JamesSavik]

I heard on the news that the explosive strength was like 400+ kilotons.

[Fishwings]

I heard on the news that the explosive strength was like 400+ kilotons.

 

Scary thing was the meteor was pretty small by the time it hit earth :S

[wildone]

I watched a whole hour show on the Discovery Channel on the meteorite and the asteroid which came in closer than a lot of the communication satellites to earth.

 

NASA as well as others track asteroids that may have impact with the earth. The meteorite was a surprise, but not unexpected as they usually burn up earlier.

 

Here is the good news, in 2004 an amateur discovered an asteroid and predicted possible impact with the earth on Friday July 13th 2029 (ironic, the Friday the 13th). NASA confirmed the data and agreed that it is possible. The bad news,they also concluded a 1 in 37 chance of collision with the earth

[hh5]

so California and Florida had meteor pass by ... is someone from space trying to tell us something?

[JamesSavik]

Yeah- get on with your space program.

[W_L]

I heard on the news that the explosive strength was like 400+ kilotons.

Makes you wonder if mass driver weapons technology could ever be feasible to that level where even modern nuke can't go? I am not proposing a conspiracy theory, but a speculative idea, f=ma is a simple law of physics.

 

As for stopping meteors near earth or asteroids in space, we are simply too primitive. In a perfect world we would have planetary defense satellites armed with fusion missiles and an advance spectrometer to detect incoming threats.

[Zombie]

As for stopping meteors near earth or asteroids in space, we are simply too primitive. In a perfect world we would have planetary defense satellites armed with fusion missiles and an advance spectrometer to detect incoming threats.

 

Yeah, I can see that working - the US, Russkies and Chinese taking it in turns to have their fingers on the trigger of, in effect, a planetary annihilation system Never mind whose going to pay for it. Plus it would have been useless for detecting last week's meteor explosion which came out of the sun [current detection of near-earth asteroids is by optical telescopes which are defeated by solar glare] even if it had been big enough to be spotted - which it wasn't

[W_L]

Yeah, I can see that working - the US, Russkies and Chinese taking it in turns to have their fingers on the trigger of, in effect, a planetary annihilation system Never mind whose going to pay for it. Plus it would have been useless for detecting last week's meteor explosion which came out of the sun [current detection of near-earth asteroids is by optical telescopes which are defeated by solar glare] even if it had been big enough to be spotted - which it wasn't

Optical telescopes are fun for amateur astronomers, which are few and far in between. In the face of extinction, we really are too primitive to pull off a rescue in time. Not many Telescope are being used for asteroid detection according to the last CNN interview after the meteor strike.

 

There are more advanced spectrometer that collect data on light and can even assess composition of objects based on reflection. We have the technology to develop an early warning system if space development can be invested in.

 

As for weapon systems, "don't worry Mr. bond, we won't try to take over the world" <scratches cat in evil swirly chair>.

 

I know, It's not a perfect world.

Edited February 20, 2013 by W_L

[Zombie]

Optical telescopes are fun for amateur astronomers, which are few and far in between. In the face of extinction, we really are too primitive to pull off a rescue in time. Not many Telescope are being used for asteroid detection according to the last CNN interview after the meteor strike.

 

No, that's wrong. Astronomy is a very popular hobby for amateurs and modern compact telescopes with "GOTO" and tracking drives, high res CCDs and imaging software enable serious work to be done for modest cost. It's one of the few sciences where amateurs can still contribute useful data and be recognised ["Amateur Achievement Awards" etc]. Many asteroids and comets have been discovered by amateurs like David Levy [Comet Shoemaker-Levy], the Moon mapping by Patrick Moore helped NASA, and loads of useful data is collected on things like variable stars etc which get shared on the web.

 

W_L, on 20 Feb 2013 - 13:20, said:

There are more advanced spectrometer that collect data on light and can even assess composition of objects based on reflection. We have the technology to develop an early warning system if space development can be invested in.

 

Currently the only feasible method of detecting asteroids and comets is from their reflected light, like the three telescopes used by the Catalina Sky Survey - and that's only to detect objects 1km in diameter or larger "to an estimated 90% confidence level or better". So it would not spot something like the Tunguska meteor/comet explosion which devastated the region in Central Siberia in 1908 and is estimated only to have been around 100m in diameter!  So far we don't have anything near the technology we need to spot objects that have the destructive power of several hydrogen bombs, we don't have the political will and we don't have the money

Edited February 20, 2013 by Zombie

[Foopy]

The reason this meteor was 'unexpected' is because it is reletively SMALL. Yes, SMALL! The major gov'ts of the world mostly track potential meteors with the capabilities of destroying entire countries, or potentially even continents... They are also usually made of rather dark-coloured materials, against a nearly pitch-black background... Makes for a hard job of things. And yeah, Skyscrapers are most certainly NOT meteor proof currently... This recent one went hit with the power of a nuke, and they don't hit for much less... The smaller ones nearly always burn up. At that, the gravity effect on an already fast-moving object can accelerate to extreme speeds... 9.81m/s² is the accepted (abbreviated) acceleration of an object at earth's surface (or near it, which more or less means within the atmosphere). Approaching the earth, it will already be accelerating, but at a fraction of the speed. (at a distance of one earth-radius [6378.1km] it would be the same. At twice that, it would be a quarter of the acceleration. At three times the distance, it would be 1/9 of the acceleration, etcetera.) This will accelerate and object to immense speeds (11 to 72 km/s. The speed of sound is only 0.34029 km/s... For aviation reference: This is above Mach 25...) That is where the damage comes from, and there is little-nothing man-made that will survive it.

[JamesSavik]

We have a big decision to make: we can trust in God's will... and be extinct as a species.

 

.OR.

 

Take responsibility.

 

Tracking asteroids is difficult but it's not impossible. The world does not even have an organized body or systematic approach to the problem. No satellites are even devoted to asteroid surveillance.

 

The way asteroids are tracked is to calculate their orbits. If you get a good fix on an asteroids orbit, you can predict where it will be decades in advance.

 

Regardless of their color, asteroids radiate in the infrared band. The wavelengths are easily calculated but the earths atmosphere absorbs IR on those wavelengths. We need a satellite in orbit to do the job. The Spitzer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitzer_Space_Telescope) is designed for deep space surveys but serves to show that we actually DO have the technology to do the job.

 

Radar works. You can detect and track asteroids with radar but the range is somewhat limited. Better outside the atmosphere but not very far in astronomical terms.

 

Difficult does not equal impossible.

[Zombie]

Problem is even if the Russian meteor had been detected, say, a few weeks before impact there's nothing we could have done except calculate the impact zone and evacuate the population. Current technology would allow us to send a probe to an asteroid or comet on collision  course but the lead time needed would be years to launch and intercept at sufficient distance from the Earth to be able to nudge it into a slightly different orbit and miss the Earth. Radar only works at shorter distances where there would not be enough time. There was actually an early Star Trek episode on this - the original series

[W_L]

Truthfully, how man amateur astronomers are working together to track asteroids, identify, or calculate probable paths?

 

Also as a hobby, amateur astronomers are not nearly large enough as a group to cover even our own solar system. According to NASA, we have thousands of asteroids and other debris in our solar system that are not catalogue. That does not even count extrasolar objects that are beyond our Sun and its heliosphere.

 

Spectrascopes and spectrometer measuring light in orbit as satellites are our best chance for identifying and analyzing them as normal optical telescopes as James pointed have to contend with earth based atmosphere issues and limits.

 

Also why can't we nuke a 100 meter object in a week. Wouldn't smaller objects be easier for our atmosphere to burn off on entry due to friction? I know it depends on the asteroids composition, which could be done, so you could nuke it without radiation or fallout, why not?

 

A highly cumbustible asteroid would give more options than a pure metallic one.

Edited February 20, 2013 by W_L

[Zombie]

No, not now that we have setups like the Catalina Sky Survey but, as I said, amateurs "have" played a very important role in the past. Optical astronomy using telescopes is still a main tool of professional astronomers for observing, including finding near-Earth objects. Distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence have been largely countered by deformable mirror adaptive-optics technologies, and modern software and imaging systems for existing telescopes, which means that ground based optical telescopes can now deliver images as good as space based telescopes.

An Earth launched nuke would just be too late - if it was, say, a half kilometre sized object [currently undetectable] all you'd do is break it into several smaller-but-still-devastating pieces to devastate many areas instead of one, with all the tracking problems and population evacuation problems multiplied. And imagine the international issues if countries that would not have been impacted by a single strike were hit because the asteroid or comet was split into several pieces by another nation's nuke. If there was a simple cheap solution using today's technology I think it's unlikely anyone here is going to find it if none of the professionals and government agencies haven't already.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Zombie

[W_L]

No, not now that we have setups like the Catalina Sky Survey but, as I said, amateurs "have" played a very important role in the past. Optical astronomy using telescopes is still a main tool of professional astronomers for observing, including finding near-Earth objects. Distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence have been largely countered by deformable mirror adaptive-optics technologies, and modern software and imaging systems for existing telescopes, which means that ground based optical telescopes can now deliver images as good as space based telescopes.

 

An Earth launched nuke would just be too late - if it was, say, a half kilometre sized object [currently undetectable] all you'd do is break it into several smaller-but-still-devastating pieces to devastate many areas instead of one, with all the tracking problems and population evacuation problems multiplied. And imagine the international issues if countries that would not have been impacted by a single strike were hit because the asteroid or comet was split into several pieces by another nation's nuke. If there was a simple cheap solution using today's technology I think it's unlikely anyone here is going to find it if none of the professionals and government agencies haven't already.

 

Hmmm....a cheap and easy solution is to dig holes for everyone before it comes... (Morbidly accurate too as you need holes for graves and holes for shelters).

 

A fun sci-fi solution is to become a Subterranean civilization like H.G Wells had imagined in his "Time Machine"

 

Our Mammalian ancestors escaped the Dinosaur extinction fate by living in holes and caves for eons, why can't human beings? It's simple and classic.