Chelyabinsk meteorite explained

Chelyabinsk
Type:Ordinary chondrite LL5[1]
Shock:S4[2]
Weathering:W0 (pristine)
Country:Russia
Region:Chelyabinsk Oblast
Observed Fall:Yes
Fall Date:15 February 2013, 09:20 YEKT
Found Date:27 February 2013
Tkw:approximately [3]
Strewn Field:Yes

The Chelyabinsk meteorite (Russian: Челябинский метеорит, Chelyabinskii meteorit) is the fragmented remains of the large Chelyabinsk meteor of 15 February 2013 which reached the ground after the meteor's passage through the atmosphere. The descent of the meteor, visible as a brilliant superbolide in the morning sky, caused a series of shock waves that shattered windows, damaged approximately 7,200 buildings and left 1,491 people injured.[4] [5] [6] The resulting fragments were scattered over a wide area.

The largest fragment raised from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul on 16 October 2013 had a mass of [7] and the total mass of other 7 meteorite fragments found nearby was .

Naming

The meteor and meteorite are named after Chelyabinsk Oblast, over which the meteor exploded. An initial proposal was to name the meteorite after Lake Chebarkul, where one of its major fragments impacted and made a 6m (20feet) hole in the frozen lake surface.[8]

Composition and classification

The meteorite has been classified as an LL5 ordinary chondrite. First estimates of its composition indicate about 10% of meteoric iron, as well as olivine and sulfides.[9]

Asteroid

The impacting asteroid started to brighten up in the general direction of the Pegasus constellation, close to the East horizon where the Sun was starting to rise.[10] The impactor belonged to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids.[11]

The asteroid had an approximate size of and a mass of about before it entered the denser parts of Earth's atmosphere and started to ablate.[12] At an altitude of about 23.3 km (14.5 miles) the body exploded in a meteor air burst. Meteorite fragments of the body landed on the ground.[13] [14]

Analysis of three fragments using optical microscopy, electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and isotopic composition techniques used to date Solar System objects, showed the isotopic clocks in the asteroids (rubidium and strontium ratios, argon isotope ratios) appear to have partially or totally reset in past collisions. The isotopic clock resets may result from thermal effects changing isotopic ratios, and changes due to cosmic radiation exposure. The asteroid appears to have had eight major collisions, around 4.53, 4.45, 3.73, 2.81, and 1.46 billion years ago, then at 852, 312, and 27 million years ago.[15] [16]

Meteorite

Scientists collected 53 samples from near a 6m (20feet) hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, thought to be the result of a single meteorite fragment impact. The specimens are of various sizes, with the largest being,[17] and initial laboratory analysis confirmed their meteoric origin.

In June 2013, Russian scientists reported that further investigation by magnetic imaging below the location of the ice hole in Lake Chebarkul had identified a meteorite buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake. An operation to recover it from the lake began on 10 September 2013,[18] and concluded on 16 October 2013, with the raising of the rock with the mass of . It was examined by scientists and handed over to the local authorities,[19] [20] who put it on display at the Chelyabinsk State Museum of Local Lore.

In the aftermath of the superbolide air burst, a large number of small meteorite fragments fell on areas west of Chelyabinsk, including Deputatskoye, generally at terminal velocity, about the speed of a piece of gravel dropped from a skyscraper. Local residents and schoolchildren located and picked up some of the meteorites, many located in snowdrifts, by following a visible hole that had been left in the outer surface of the snow. Speculators became active in the informal market for meteorite fragments that rapidly emerged.

Popular culture

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chelyabinsk . Meteoritical Bulletin Database . The Meteoritical Society . https://web.archive.org/web/20130603103339/http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=57165 . 2013-06-03 . live.
  2. Web site: Google Translate. ru:Тип челябинского метеорита оказался уникальным для России - ученые . Chelyabinsk meteorite type was unique for Russia - Scientists . ru . ria.ru . 28 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130626235652/http://ria.ru/science/20130228/925165413.html . 2013-06-26 . live .
  3. Web site: Kocherov . A.V. . Ivanova . M.A. . Chelyabinsk, recovery of additional masses . Meteoritical Bulletin Database . The Meteoritical Society . 23 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151223220959/http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/ . 23 December 2015.
  4. Web site: 18 February 2013 . ru:Число пострадавших при падении метеорита приблизилось к 1500 . The number of victims of the meteorite approached 1500 . http://top.rbc.ru/incidents/18/02/2013/845595.shtml . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130502144652/http://top.rbc.ru/incidents/18/02/2013/845595.shtml . 2 May 2013 . 18 February 2013 . РосБизнесКонсалтинг [RBC] . ru.
  5. News: Russische Wissenschaftler finden Teile des Meteoriten . Russian scientists find parts of the meteorite . 18 February 2013 . Zeit . de . https://web.archive.org/web/20130420145301/http://www.zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2013-02/meteorit-wissenschaftler-fund . 2013-04-20 . live.
  6. News: Meteorite-caused emergency situation regime over in Chelyabinsk region . Russia Beyond The Headlines . Rossiyskaya Gazeta . 5 March 2013 . . 17 April 2013 . 23 June 2013 . https://archive.today/20130623230931/http://rbth.ru/news/2013/03/05/meteorite-caused_emergency_situation_regime_over_in_chelyabinsk_region_23513.html . live.
  7. Web site: 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2014) - Recovery, Laboratory Preparation and Current State of the Main Mass of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite. . 21 March 2014 . en . 22 July 2020 . 4 May 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200504223627/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2014/pdf/2227.pdf . live.
  8. News: Meteorite pulled from Russian lake . BBC News . BBC . 16 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131016113749/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24550941 . 2013-10-16 . live.
  9. News: Russische Wissenschafter fanden Fragmente des Meteoriten . Russian scientists found fragments of the meteorite . 18 February 2013 . Standard . de . https://web.archive.org/web/20130623224730/http://derstandard.at/1360681801881/Russische-Wissenschafter-fanden-Fragmente-des-Meteoriten . 2013-06-23 . live.
  10. Zuluaga . Jorge I. . Ferrin . Ignacio . A preliminary reconstruction of the orbit of the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid . 2013 . 1302.5377 . We use this result to classify the meteoroid among the near Earth asteroid families finding that the parent body belonged to the Apollo asteroids. . astro-ph.EP.
  11. Chasing the Chelyabinsk asteroid N-body style . C. . de la Fuente Marcos . R. . de la Fuente Marcos . S. J. . Aarseth . 10 October 2015 . . 812 . 1 . 26 (22 pp) . 1508.05907 . 2015ApJ...812...26D . 10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/26 . 119218995.
  12. Web site: 1 March 2013 . Additional Details on the Large Fireball Event over Russia on Feb. 15, 2013 . NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office . Don . Yeomans . Paul . Chodas . https://web.archive.org/web/20130430164941/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fireball_130301.html . 2013-04-30 . dead . Note that [the] estimates of total energy, diameter and mass are very approximate..
    NASA's web page in turn acknowledges credit for its data and visual diagrams to:

    Peter Brown (University of Western Ontario); William Cooke (Marshall Space Flight Center); Paul Chodas, Steve Chesley and Ron Baalke (JPL); Richard Binzel (MIT); and Dan Adamo.

  13. News: Kramer . Andrew E. . Russians Wade Into the Snow to Seek Treasure From the Sky . 18 February 2013 . New York Times . 26 February 2017 . 21 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130221060323/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/world/europe/russian-scientists-say-they-found-meteorite-fragments.html?_r=0 . live.
  14. News: Meteorite fragments found in Russia's Urals region . 18 February 2013 . BBC News . BBC . https://web.archive.org/web/20130219022021/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21494963 . 2013-02-19 . live.
  15. Web site: Chelyabinsk Meteor Played 4.5 Billion Years of Cosmic Pinball . 2015-10-01 . Caleb A. . Scharf . 2015-10-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151002203315/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/chelyabinsk-meteor-played-4-5-billion-years-of-cosmic-pinball/ . live.
  16. Mineralogy, petrology, chronology, and exposure history of the Chelyabinsk meteorite and parent body . Meteoritics & Planetary Science . 2015-09-01 . 1945-5100 . 1790–1819 . 10.1111/maps.12511 . K. . Righter . P. . Abell . D. . Agresti . E. L. . Berger . A. S. . Burton . J. S. . Delaney . M. D. . Fries . E. K. . Gibson . M. K. . Haba . 50 . 10 . 2015M&PS...50.1790R . 2060/20150001932 . 19374460 . free.
  17. News: Tough to spot: Chelyabinsk meteor tinted by ancient crashes . Matt . Smith . CNN . 10 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020220151/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/09/world/europe/space-russia-meteor/ . 2013-10-20 . live.
  18. News: Probable Fragments of Chelyabinsk Meteorite Lifted From Lake . 26 September 2013 . RIA Novosti . https://web.archive.org/web/20131017032748/http://en.ria.ru/science/20130926/183754123/Probable-Fragments-of-Chelyabinsk-Meteorite-Lifted-From-Lake.html . 2013-10-17 . live.
  19. News: Church of Chelyabinsk Meteorite Founded in Russian Urals . 16 September 2013 . RIA Novosti . https://web.archive.org/web/20131017094336/http://en.ria.ru/science/20130916/183504482/Church-of-Chelyabinsk-Meteorite-Founded-in-Russian-Urals.html . 2013-10-17 . live.
  20. Recovery, Laboratory Preparation and Current State of the Main Mass of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite . 1777 . 2227 . 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference . 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222153347/http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2014/pdf/2227.pdf . 2014-02-22 . live . 2014LPI....45.2227K . Kocherov . A. V. . Korochantsev . A. V. . Lorenz . C. A. . Ivanova . M. A. . Grokhovsky . V. I..
  21. Web site: Meteorites Found, But Beware Offers to Sell . Space Policy Online . 18 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130702065945/http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/meteorites-found-but-beware-offers-to-sell . 2013-07-02 . live.
  22. News: Olympians Win Asteroid-Filled Medals on Russia's Meteorite Anniversary . Whithers . Tom . NBC News . California . 15 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222153846/http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/sochi-olympics-win-asteroid-pieces-in-medals-meteor-anniversary-245703681.html . 2014-02-22 . live.
  23. Web site: Arnold . Richard . Legal Case in Chelyabinsk Raises Specter of Regional Separatism in Russia . Jamestown Foundation . Eurasia Daily Monitor . 16 May 2024.

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