Central Russia got hit by meteor shower. It happened as the meteor exploded over the Ural, its pieces burnt in the lower part of the atmosphere but some were still able to hit the small town of Chelyabinsk. Force of the fallen meteor "shrapnels" was big enough to cause the damage and break the windows on surrounding buildings. These are some of the meteor shower videos that people managed to capture.
Officials say around 100 of people had been injured. Others report of 500 seeking medical help. Soldiers were sent to the site of impact: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/201....
In 1908, a fireball exploded over the Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia, flattening hundreds of square miles of land during a massive blast. That fireball was created by the explosion of an object about 150 feet (45 meters) across, NASA scientists have said.
A similarly sized object, the asteroid 2012 DA14, will fly extremely close to Earth on Friday, but will not hit the planet. The asteroid will approach within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of the Earth —about 5,000 miles (8,046 km) closer than geosynchronous satellites —during the close shave.
I've noticed a few different terms in media regarding the event. This falling comets are either described as meteors, meteoroids or meteorites? What are the differences?
Hey Kid I took the liberty to make a new post explaining the differences between meteors, meteoroids or meteorites. Hope it sheds some light on the subject.
According to space.com the meteoroid measured 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter before it entered Earth's atmosphere. The reason why it exploded was the speed. The asteroid traveled at the speed of 66,000 miles per hour (108,000 km/h) and as it entered our atmosphere the energy of motion (kinetic energy). The shock wave from asteroid when it interacts with the Earth's atmosphere heats up the rock, then vaporizes it. As the super hot vapor expands really quickly, it causes the explosion.
A reconstruction video animation of the meteorites hitting the Earth in Russia:
