Large meteorite hits Norway; no damage but tremors felt

[cyclonebuster]

The direction they said it was traveling is consistant with the direction the "S" fragment is traveling.

 

[qso1]

In another thread, I was explaining that the current passage would be next to impossible to produce an impact because the comet is travelling nearly parallel to earth when it passed close by. This would require any piece breaking away to do a nearly right angle turn to hit earth except in the case where the earths orbit and comets orbit actually intersect. In order for a fragment to make a right angle turn while travelling at anywhere between 50-75,000 mph. Something would have to redirect the forward momentum of the frag sufficiently for the frag to reach earth in this short period of time.<br /><br />While it is possible we were hit by an SW-3 fragment, and that would be more due to me being unable to confirm that earth and the comets orbits intersected...IMO, we were hit by an unrelated (To SW-3) object.<br /><br />Another reason we were hit, I was unusually bold in saying that Eric Julien would be proven wrong about his prediction of a May 26th hit which of course, he can come up with reasons to change the date as needed. Its the "Just my luck" Just enough of something will happen just to prove me wrong...my lot in life.<br /><br />Truth is, or at least IMO, we won't ever really know. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[cyclonebuster]

Perhaps, when we find those fragments we will know.

 

[qso1]

A chemical analysis might determine if its cometary material or asteroid. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[cyclonebuster]

Yep!I think so.

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Excuse my ignorance but, if the astronomer guy is comparing it to Hiroshima in explosive force and it registered on the Richter, shouldn't there be a big ol' crater somewhere? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[edawg]

hopefully they send a team to check it out.tmm is gonna be fun ;/ im in fl so i hope nothin plows into the atlantic if i does i got No2 for my car =) and i gotta an excuse to do 150 to ft.myers..

 

[harmonicaman]

<i>"...if the astronomer guy is comparing it to Hiroshima in explosive force and it registered on the Richter, shouldn't there be a big ol' crater somewhere?"</i><br /><br />Not necessarily; the Tunguska event was estimated to have released the energy equivalent of about 100 to 150 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb and produced no crater. Meteors travel at 5,000 mph to 160,000 mph (about 60,000 mph is average). At these velocities the atmosphere acts like a brick wall; the meteor compresses air in front of it, the air heats up, and this in turn heats the meteor.<br /><br />This intense heating vaporizes most meteors, creating what we call shooting stars and fireballs. Most become visible at around 60 miles up. Some larger meteors splatter, causing a fireball and explosion which can often be heard up to 30 miles away.<br /><br />It's likely that most of this meteor was vaporized in the atmosphere, and that is where all the energy was released!

 

[mikeemmert]

No, only the toughest iron meteorites reach the ground in size ranges like that. Stony meteorites and weak irons cannot withstand the aerodynamic forces on them, even if they were solid rock, which they probably are not. So they shatter and produce an airburst. That's apparently what happened here.<br /><br />The Tunguska meteorite exploded at an altitude of about 20 miles. Sikhote-Alin broke up at about the same altitude but many fragments survived.<br /><br />The farmer heard the blast seven minutes later. That's nearly 100 miles. The same explosion on the ground will have the sound attenuated by hills, trees, grass, etc.<br /><br />Remember, well-built passenger airliners break up if they exceed the speed of sound. That's why it's called the "sound barrier". The slowest meteors are traveling mach 35, which is escape velocity, and most travel much faster since they are in orbit around the sun.<br /><br />I think with the videotape it can be proven if this was a fragment of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. Apparently, according to cyclonebuster, the direction was consistent. The bursting altitude could also be determined this way by the apparent speed on the videotape.<br /><br />Unfortunately, simulations and the results of years of study of the Tunguska event show that these things break up into a fine powder which drifts away with the wind, unless they are irons. Next time this happens they should scramble a fighter equipped with an airfilter (I think most jets have an airfilter somewhere on them, even for a minor component.) It's too late to do this in this case.<br /><br />

 

[edawg]

a quick question,what woul happen if an impact happened in the mediteraen(sp?) would the tsunami spill over into the atlantic? would it be greatly diffused?

 

[mikeemmert]

Well, I'd have to guess. I've already PM'ed shuttle_guy hoping he might have some ideas about air filters on fighters, but he's not online.<br /><br />My guess is that I happen to know the Strait of Gibralter is not only narrow, but also shallow. That would kill the tsunami.<br /><br />Now, here's something interesting. I looked up Mediterranean sea and found out it is considered a type of body of water. Besides the namesake example there is the Sea of Azov, the Arctic Ocean, and the American mediterranean sea, which combines the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean sea, amongst others. Salinity can be either more or less than the world ocean.<br /><br />An impact in such a sea would cause great devastation along the coast of that sea, of course. That would be an interesting question to quantify (I haven't done that). Also, as with any tsunami, there is a frequency to it. Those bays, harbors, mediterranean seas, etc. which are "tuned" to that frequency suffer more damage than bodies which are not. <br /><br />Of course, Wikipedia has an article. The worst tsunami in The Mediterranean Sea (the one Greece and Italy are located in) was caused by the eruption of Mount Santorini in about 1500 B.C. That one was about 600 feet high.

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I can't imagine it would take long to find it. If they are talking about the explosive power of a Hiroshima bomb wouldn't the cloud of smoke be pretty easy to spot?<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />That's after the impact. (And this one certainly wasn't that big.) Before atmospheric interface is another matter entirely. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Question: If they find a meteorite, and they have some pictures of it in the atmosphere, could it be tracked back where it came from? Just wondering, because I'm curious if there is any possiiblity this was a small fragment from the comet that broke up?<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />It's possible. The entry path will give you a clue as to the path prior to atmosphere interface. It would be best if you had multiple pictures from different observation stations; otherwise you might not be able to tell what angle it was coming in at.<br /><br />Could it have been from comet 73P? Possibly. But more likely (in my opinion) is that this was part of the meteor shower which usually comes at this time. I can't think of its name right now, but the meteors are rarely seen because the radiant point is near the Sun. They are believed to come from an asteroid, not a comet. If this meteor is one of those, it could help study that particular asteroid (can't think of its name either at the moment -- sorry, my memory is not at its best today). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[harmonicaman]

Norway meteorite story update.<br /><br /> 'A professor at the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo has issued an editorial apology for what he called "exaggerated explosive force" linked to reports of the recent meteorite strike in Norway. <br /> <br />

 

[cyclonebuster]

I would bet when it entered the atmosphere it was as powerfull as a one kiloton nuke going off since it did leave a sizeable crater on the ground.<br />http://cache.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00411/_L04nedslaget1006_j_411040h.jpg<br />

 

[edawg]

imagine if it was goin a .000000002 meters per second slower? could a been in london....to bad their playing politics with our future..

 

[telfrow]

<i>A meteorite weighing about 4 pounds landed in western Norway during the weekend -- the second meteoritic impact in Norway within a month. <br /><br />The meteorite, creating a crater about 10 inches deep, landed Sunday in the yard of a home, but caused no injuries or damage. </i><br /><br />Link<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>