Chelyabinsk meteor: Difference between revisions

}}

 

 

The object exploded in a [[meteor air burst]] over [[Chelyabinsk Oblast]], at a height of about {{convert|29.7|km|mi ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Science_342" /> The explosion generated a bright flash, producing a hot cloud of dust and gas that penetrated to {{cvt|26.2|km|mi ft}}, and many surviving small fragmentary [[meteorite]]s. Most of the object's energy was absorbed by the atmosphere, creating a large [[shock wave]]. The asteroid had a total [[kinetic energy]] before atmospheric impact equivalent to the blast yield of 400–500 [[kiloton]]s of TNT (about 1.4–1.8&nbsp;PJ), estimated from [[infrasound]] and [[seismic]] measurements. This was 26 to 33 times as much energy as that released from the [[Little Boy|atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima]].<ref name="David_spacecom">{{Cite web |url=http://www.space.com/23423-russian-fireball-meteor-airburst-risk.html |title=Russian Fireball Explosion Shows Meteor Risk Greater Than Thought |last=David |first=Leonard |date=7 October 2013 |website=www.space.com |publisher=Wired Magazine/Conde Nast |location=New York |access-date=3 February 2017 |archive-date=19 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819031019/https://www.space.com/23423-russian-fireball-meteor-airburst-risk.html |url-status=live }}best estimate of the equivalent nuclear blast yield of the Chelyabinsk explosion</ref>