Explain the events during the last reported case of a meteorite landing on earth?

Question

How often do we see meteors?

Answer 1

Meteorites are bits of the solar system that have fallen to the Earth. Most come from asteroids, including few are believed to have come specifically from 4 Vesta; a few probably come from comets. A small number of meteorites have been shown to be of Lunar (23 finds) or Martian (22) origin.


very large number of meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere each day amounting to more than a hundred tons of material. But they are almost all very small, just a few milligrams each. Only the largest ones ever reach the surface to become meteorites. The largest found meteorite (Hoba, in Namibia) weighs 60 tons.

The most recent case is as follows.

A large meteorite slammed into the side of a mountain near the area of Troms and Finnmark in Norway at about 2:05 a.m. on June 9, 2006.

Scientists say the explosive force of the meteorite could have been "compared to the Hiroshima bomb." Truls Lynne Hansen of the Northern Lights Observatory, however, called this description "an exaggeration."

"This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. There were ground tremors, a house shook and a curtain was blown into the house," said Norwegian astronomer, Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard.

"Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the bomb," added Ødegaard.

"The record was the Alta meteorite that landed in 1904. That one was 90 kilos (198 lbs) but we think the meteorite that landed Wednesday was considerably larger," said Ødegaard. He also said that area residents could find remnants of the meteor.

Professor Kaare Aksnes of the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo later apologised for the comprison with the Hiroshima bomb "We cannot be completely sure, but the light and sound phenomena were exceptional. It indicates that there has been a great deal of energy involved."

Answer 2

Anything that falls from the sky is technically a meteorite. This includes raindrops and snowflakes and bits of rock coming out of orbit. Most likely dozens of little bits hit the earth every hour but we don't notice most of them. When the bits are a bit bigger, you get the car hit in the USA, a woman in New Zealand who heard the rock go by her head and I once read that a dog was killed by a small meteorite several years ago. When they get a bit bigger you get the Tunguska event and at an even bigger size the one at the K-T boundary.

You can see streaks of light in the sky most every night, more frequently at some times of the year when the Earth's orbit crosses that of some flying gravel pile left over from an old comet.

Answer 3

The last one I know of that was *reported* was about 10 or 12 years ago - a meteor was viewed up & down the East Coast of the US - and hit the trunk of a car sitting in someone's driveway...

Answer 4

There are many many meteors. A lot more than than we ever hear about. That is because almost every one of them burn up in the earth's atmosphere. Many enter the earth's atmosphere, but few are harmful.

Answer 5

Any thing that falls from atmosphere is a meteorite but only heavier elements r visible in sky coz when they have sufficient mass they would burn due to friction with atmosphere & can be viewed.

Answer 6

i saw a meteor landing once, but then it took off again before i could get my camera...damn

Answer 7

If you look up you'll see probably 10 or more a night on average.

Answer 8

yucatan peninsula 11 thousand years ago,,,,,,,,,,,,,angara river,tunguska siberia,,,july 1908,,,,,,,,,biggins occur about every 25 k years,,,,,,,,were overdue, for a big one ,,,,,,,of the 2 above,yucatan was catastrophic,,,,,,,tunguska was spectacular,,,,,,,,flash visible in france