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During this event a stony meteoroid about 50–60 m (160–200 ft) in size [1] [2]: p. 178 exploded at an altitude of 5–10 km (16,000–33,000 ft) over a sparsely populated forest in Siberia. The resulting shock wave flattened an estimated 80 million trees over a 2,150 km 2 (830 sq mi) area, and may have killed 3 people.
Characteristic is the fayalite (Fa) content of the olivine of 16 to 20 mol%. They contain also 15–19% of nickel-iron metal and about 5% of troilite. The majority of these meteorites have been significantly metamorphosed, with over 40% being in petrologic class 5, most of the rest in classes 4 and 6. Only a few (about 2.5%) are of the largely ...
Meteorite weathering is the terrestrial alteration of a meteorite. Most meteorites date from the oldest times in the Solar System and are by far the oldest material available on our planet. Despite their age, they are vulnerable to the terrestrial environment. Water, chlorine and oxygen attack meteorites as soon as they reach the ground.
Space rocks leave crumb trails in their orbits as meteor showers
Because ordinary chondrites represent 80% of the meteorites that fall to earth, and because ordinary chondrites contain 60–80% chondrules, it follows that (excluding dust) most of the meteoritic material that falls on earth is made up of chondrules. Chondrules can range in diameter from just a few micrometers to over 1 centimetre (0.39 in).
A micrometeorite is a micrometeoroid that has survived entry through the Earth's atmosphere.Usually found on Earth's surface, micrometeorites differ from meteorites in that they are smaller in size, more abundant, and different in composition.
Ejecta with even relatively small velocities (~280 m/s) can enter the chaotic regions of the 3:1 Kirkwood gap at 2.50 AU and the nearby secular resonance which determines the high-inclination edge of the asteroid belt at about 16° inclinations hereabouts. Of the asteroids in this "well-placed" orbit, Hebe is the largest.
Locating a softball-sized space rock in the wilderness may be similar to finding a needle in a haystack: Pitt said the estimated area where the meteorites hit is about a mile wide (1.6 km) and ...