UPDATE: NASA scientists say this was unrelated to the other meteor fly-by expected today, since it’s traveling on a different trajectory.
And you complain about your morning commute? Jesus, if I saw that coming at me, I think I’d have a heart attack:
MOSCOW — Bright objects, apparently debris from a meteorite, streaked through the sky in western Siberia early on Friday, accompanied by a boom that damaged buildings across a vast area of territory. Hundreds of people were reported to have been injured, most from breaking glass.
Emergency officials had reported no deaths by Friday afternoon, but administrators in the city of Chelyabinsk said that more than 750 residents had sought medical care and 31 had been hospitalized.
Russian experts believe the blast was caused by a 10-ton meteor known as a bolide, which created a powerful shock wave when it reached the Earth’s atmosphere, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement. Scientists believe the bolide exploded and evaporated at a height of around 20 to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface, but that small fragments may have reached the ground, the statement said.
The governor of the Chelyabinsk district reported that a search team had found an impact crater on the outskirts of a city about 50 miles west of Chelyabinsk. An official from the Interior Ministry told the Russian news agency Interfax that three large pieces of meteorite debris had been retrieved in the area and that 10,000 police officers are searching for more.
A small asteroid, known as 2012 DA14, is expected to pass close to Earth later on Friday, NASA reported on its Web site. Aleksandr Y. Dudorov, a physicist at Chelyabinsk State University, said it was possible that the meteorite may have been flying alongside the asteroid.
“What we witnessed today may have been the precursor of that asteroid,” said Mr. Dudorov in a telephone interview. Video clips from the city of Chelyabinsk showed an early morning sky illuminated by a brilliant flash, followed by the sound of breaking glass and multiple car alarms. Meteorites typically cause sonic booms as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. On Friday, the force was powerful enough to shatter dishes and televisions in people’s homes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pXT_B4kx6YA
If that is western Siberia, then Siberia is a half dozen times bigger than I thought. Only one of two time zones east of Istanbul. Who knew?
Are we sure that the VRIL Society had nothing to do with this? After all Blavatsky foretold that it would all someday end like this.
Boi, howdy. I saw these when they started popping up last evening. Really cool, awesome nature at work. But when you start thinking about asteroid strikes, impacts and extinctions, just count the seconds from the time the thing first appears as a tiny spark until it blew up; Never seen or anticipated and about 10 seconds to contemplate the futility of existence. Hardly enough time to think, “oh, shit!” Sobering.
Was in CA last October and saw the San Jose meteorite. Coolest thing ever.
Dayum, I live in San Jose and didn’t see it.
Or are you referring to San Jose Costa Rica?