Ural region in Russia hit by meteor shower!

[peibeck]

Well, I believe they didn't think it was so dangerous as it turned out. No one was even warned, I wonder what were astronomers worldwide doing?

I wouldn't have known if it was a meteor, a plane blowing up, a falling satellite, a missile or what coming out of the sky. But I still think I would have slowed down or stopped if possible.

I guess the astronomers didn't detect it because of the size. The other (detected) meteor passing by is much, much larger.

[FarFarAway]

I wouldn't have known if it was a meteor, a plane blowing up, a falling satellite, a missile or what coming out of the sky. But I still think I would have slowed down or stopped if possible.

I guess the astronomers didn't detect it because of the size. The other (detected) meteor passing by is much, much larger.

Russians are a bit different from Americans Overcurious where we need to be overcautious

And what about that super hyper equipment astronomers have? National Geographic sometimes almost says it can catch a fly on the other end of the universe?

I am not surprised our Russian equipment didn't detect anything though, as sad as it is

[Cyn]

Glad to hear you and your family are safe

....I wonder what were astronomers worldwide doing?

This, perhaps?



ETA:

Video of meteor along with audio of sonic boom

I had my earbuds on when I watched/listened to this -- holy fcukballs, was that loud

Also, skary as hell . If I'd been there and witnessed this firsthand, someone would have to hook me up to a Valium drip to calm my nerves (and pry my fingernails out of the ceiling).

Damn.....

[Sofia Alexandra]

And what about that super hyper equipment astronomers have? National Geographic sometimes almost says it can catch a fly on the other end of the universe?

Yes, but it still needs to be pointed in the right direction. The universe is BIG! No matter how advanced equpment you have you can still only look at one place at the time, and you'd have to look at the same place twice to see if something has moved. I saw some documentary about the detection and tracking of NEOs - Near-Earth Objects - recently, I wish I could remember the title of it.

[Maofan7]

This is a real wake up call in terms of the hazards and dangers posed by meteoroid, asteroid, and comet strikes. According to this article, "the meteoroid was approximately 15 metres across when it entered the atmosphere" and is the largest object to hit the planet in over a century. The asteroid, Apophis, is 325 metres is diameter. On Friday 13th April 2029, it will come within just 19,400 miles of the Earth and may destroy some satellites in orbit. Moreover, estimates of how close it will come have been revised downwards and downwards over the last few years.....! Furthermore, should the asteroid pass through a gravitational keyhole during the 2029 approach in a certain way, there is a possibility that it could collide with the Earth on the 13th April 2036. Allegedly, recent observations have now ruled out that possibility, but predictions beyond 2029 remain very uncertain. If Apophis hits the Earth, it will have the power of 880 megatons (greater than the largest nuclear bomb ever created, and 3 times the energy released by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (which caused 5 years of climate change)). Whilst it would not wipe out the human race, it would devastate several thousand square miles (killing millions) and disrupt life for several decades! Its highly unlikely that it will hit, but not so remote that organisations such as the Russian Space Agency have been developing contingency plans to divert the asteroid. And then there are the asteroids and comets we don't know about, the objects approaching from behind the sun that are undetectable, the unknown long period comets, etc. Never say never!

[gkelly]

The asteroid, Apophis, is 325 metres is diameter. On Friday 13th April 2029, it will come within just 19,400 miles of the Earth and may destroy some satellites in orbit. Moreover, estimates of how close it will come have been revised downwards and downwards over the last few years.....! Furthermore, should the asteroid pass through a gravitational keyhole during the 2029 approach in a certain way, there is a possibility that it could collide with the Earth on the 13th April 2036.

Any particular reason why both events would be predicted for the same date, 7 years apart?

[FarFarAway]

I had my earbuds on when I watched/listened to this -- holy fcukballs, was that loud

Also, skary as hell . If I'd been there and witnessed this firsthand, someone would have to hook me up to a Valium drip to calm my nerves (and pry my fingernails out of the ceiling).

Damn.....

That was loud indeed. But I guess my mom didn't panick because she witnessed the 1977 Carpathian earthquake, which was quite devastating, so I guess she decided that if nothing shakes, falls and breaks, she should stay calm. But I think that this was mere luck that her district was not affected much, one of my friends, who is working on the other end of the city, thought the factory near the office exploded and though there were no damages to the office building - it just shook a little bit - all the staff were asked to go home for security reasons and when he went home he saw all the damage that was done by the explosion. His apartment luckily escaped the damage, just some paint fell down, that's it.

In some of the student hostels at the university campuses the whole windows were just blown inside the rooms, they were basically lying on the beds (what a luck students didn't sleep at 9-10am on Friday morning!) totally shattered.

So generally, the explosion zones seem to be very irregular and it was mere luck for many they didn't get hurt.

Yes, but it still needs to be pointed in the right direction. The universe is BIG! No matter how advanced equpment you have you can still only look at one place at the time, and you'd have to look at the same place twice to see if something has moved. I saw some documentary about the detection and tracking of NEOs - Near-Earth Objects - recently, I wish I could remember the title of it.

Yeah, I know, but still - something needs to be done to prevent casualties and destruction like this. I can't imagine what the consequences might be if meteor even like this falls in the middle of the day on Tokyo, New York, London or any other multimillion city. And it's pure luck it didn't fall in the middle of the motorways or in the City Centre where there are lots of high buildings.

[Maofan7]

Any particular reason why both events would be predicted for the same date, 7 years apart?

This article explains its orbital characteristics:-

Apophis revolves around the sun once every 323.6 days. If its orbit were circular, and thus it always traveled at a constant speed, Apophis would pass by Earth approximately every 7 years and 9 months. Like most asteroids, however, its orbit is elliptical, meaning that its distance from the sun varies. The closer Apophis is to the sun, the faster it moves, and the further away it is, the slower it moves. Therefore, while its approaches to the Earth are generally spaced about 7 years and 9 months apart, each approach can vary by several months, and it is even possible for a single pass to take as much as four months to complete, with two close approaches in that pass.

The fact that it will take exactly 7 years to return between 2029 and 2036 - pure cosmic coincidence (just as today's events have been a pure cosmic coincidence with the Russia meteoroid and the near earth/near miss asteroid)!

Its also worth noting that there is a just 1 in 300 chance of asteroid 1950 DA hitting the Earth on the 16th March 2880. That asteroid is just over 1 kilometre in diameter and if that hits, it would cause catastrophic damage (leaving a 14 mile wide crater) that would come close to an extinction level event. However, we will all obviously be long gone by then, and the human race has plenty of time to do something about it.

[IceAlisa]

There's this link for videos and photos: http://zyalt.livejournal.com/722930.html?nojs=1

OMG, the language in that video! A Russian cuss words clinic.

Meanwhile in Chelyabinsk: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...44013736_n.jpg

[l'etoile]

So sad that there are so many injured and hurt

This article explains its orbital characteristics:-



The fact that it will take exactly 7 years to return between 2029 and 2036 - pure cosmic coincidence (just as today's events have been a pure cosmic coincidence with the Russia meteoroid and the near earth/near miss asteroid)!

Its also worth noting that there is a just 1 in 300 chance of asteroid 1950 DA hitting the Earth on the 16th March 2880. That asteroid is just over 1 kilometre in diameter and if that hits, it would cause catastrophic damage (leaving a 14 mile wide crater) that would come close to an extinction level event. However, we will all obviously be long gone by then, and the human race has plenty of time to do something about it.

That's really cool!

[Wiery]

So, does every Russian have a GoPro mounted on the dashboard? Why do they do this; is it because accidents are numerous and a video record is good to have, or is it just something that is done?

When I first saw the reports, I wondered how the local emergency rooms and clinics would handle 500+ people

[BigB08822]

Apparently it's not such a huge coincidence that this happened. I read an article that says a meteorite of some size hits Earth about once a day. This one just happened to be large enough and over a populated area. Most of earth is not populated, think about all the oceans!

[love_skate2011]

any truths about meteors also hit Cuba ?

[Buzz]

So, does every Russian have a GoPro mounted on the dashboard? Why do they do this; is it because accidents are numerous and a video record is good to have, or is it just something that is done?

When I first saw the reports, I wondered how the local emergency rooms and clinics would handle 500+ people

I heard one report that says it has to do with police corruption.

[Reuven]

OMG, the language in that video! A Russian cuss words clinic.

No translation necessary!

[Gazpacho]

Could Sarah Palin see it from her house?

[Wiery]

any truths about meteors also hit Cuba ?

Same day?

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[Wiery]

I heard one report that says it has to do with police corruption.

Thank you!

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

[Anita18]

Russians are a bit different from Americans Overcurious where we need to be overcautious

And what about that super hyper equipment astronomers have? National Geographic sometimes almost says it can catch a fly on the other end of the universe?

I am not surprised our Russian equipment didn't detect anything though, as sad as it is

They're not video cameras, they're still cameras, so they'd have to get around to taking a picture of that same part of sky again and then examining what changed.

Also, it's much harder if the object in question doesn't give off light.

Unfortunately, an object of even very small size going at extremely high speed can cause a lot of damage. It's just one of the dangers of living on a planet hurtling through space...

[FarFarAway]

So, does every Russian have a GoPro mounted on the dashboard? Why do they do this; is it because accidents are numerous and a video record is good to have, or is it just something that is done?

I heard one report that says it has to do with police corruption.

Mainly because yes, accidents are numerous and yes, video record is indeed good to have. Just in case.

As fot the 500+ injured - Chelyabinsk is a very large city, I believe it's nearing 2 millions with all the suburbs that almost merged with the city, so there are a lot of hospitals and clinics and as I heard everything went normal, though there were a lot more people than usual.

I just saw the news from Chelyabinsk and actually the showed an Ice Palace which is practically ruined in the inside - all those contsruction pieces just fell on the ice on the people. And yet another miracle - no one hurt.

So far, only one woman was transported to Moscow clinic - she was literally blown off the ladder by the explosion while she worked near her house in Chelyabinsk suburbs. They say her spine is seriously injured.

South Urals State University was seriously damaged and I saw the pictures my friends took and reports on TV today and I am really thankful my dad went to Europe a week ago and my stepmother was at work, because their apartment is literally right behind the corner from this University.