Figure 15-18: R I V U X G
Russian Asteroid Impact of 2013 (a) The fireball lasted about 30 seconds, leaving a smoke trail about 400 km across the sky over the Russian town of Chelyabinsk. (b) Impact with the atmosphere produced a powerful shockwave that shattered over a million square feet of glass, and damaged many buildings such as this zinc plant. With winter temperatures around −15° C (5° F), broken windows posed an ongoing threat. (c) This 6-m wide hole in Lake Chebarkul is a likely impact site for a larger piece of meteoritic debris, although divers could not find the suspected piece in the first few weeks after the impact. Many smaller meteorites were found around this hole and, to a lesser degree, throughout the city. The collected meteorites are mostly rock, with about 10% iron.
Russian Asteroid Impact of 2013 (a) The fireball lasted about 30 seconds, leaving a smoke trail about 400 km across the sky over the Russian town of Chelyabinsk. (b) Impact with the atmosphere produced a powerful shockwave that shattered over a million square feet of glass, and damaged many buildings such as this zinc plant. With winter temperatures around −15° C (5° F), broken windows posed an ongoing threat. (c) This 6-m wide hole in Lake Chebarkul is a likely impact site for a larger piece of meteoritic debris, although divers could not find the suspected piece in the first few weeks after the impact. Many smaller meteorites were found around this hole and, to a lesser degree, throughout the city. The collected meteorites are mostly rock, with about 10% iron.
(a: Xinhua/RIA/Xinhua Press/Corbis; b: Jiang Kehong/Xinhua Press/Corbis; c: HANDOUT/Reuters/Corbis)