Latest Impact event Stories
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Prior to the Apollo Moon missions, scientists conjectured that the Moon would be extremely dry, that even below the surface of the Magnificent Desolation little or no water would be present. But the rocks brought back by the lunar explorers revealed that the Moon, while still dry compared to Earth, contained a surprising amount of water. Furthermore, the composition of the Moon led scientists to the current Big Impact...
At a major planetary defense conference in Flagstaff, AZ, last evening, the Planetary Society announced the winners of its 2013 Shoemaker Near Earth Object (NEO) grants and was recognized itself for the Society’s long history of international leadership in the detection and mitigation of threatening asteroids, and other planetary discoveries. “As the Chelyabinsk impact demonstrated, asteroid impacts happen; they are dangerous, destructive, with no regard for human life,” said Bill...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Researchers from the University of Colorado claim to have uncovered new evidence supporting the notion that a Manhattan-sized asteroid collided with the Earth some 66 million years ago, triggering a global firestorm that would have led to the extinction of 80 percent of the planet’s species. According to Douglas Robertson of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and colleagues, the firestorm...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online One of the most popular theories on the disappearance of the dinosaurs surrounds the 110 mile-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico. Many scientists believe the extinction was caused by an asteroid that crashed into Earth, leaving only a massive crater behind. However, a group of American scientists is presenting a theory that the culprit was actually a speeding comet, not a relatively slow-moving asteroid as many theories assert....
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The giant Chicxulub crater in Yucatan is evidence that sometime around 65 million years ago a massive asteroid smashed into the earth wiping out most life that existed at that time, including all non-avian dinosaurs. While it is hard to imagine a similar scenario taking place today, there is currently little that we could do but sit and “pray.” That is unless, of course, the government can do more now to ensure scientists have...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online On Friday, February 15, a massive meteor exploded in the sky over Russia's Ural Mountains region, injuring more than 1,500 people and at least 200 children. Now, a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southampton has released the results of a simulation of the Chelyabinsk meteor using high-tech software called NEOImpactor. Professor of engineering and environment Dr. Hugh Lewis was able to use the simulation tool to...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online With all the recent meteor events, such as last Friday’s that exploded over Russia, injuring more than a thousand people, and the possible smaller explosion over Cuba just a day later, many may be wondering if similar events have occurred in their neck of the woods anytime in the past. For those who are really interested in knowing, there is a new meteor heat map that shows every meteoric event that has occurred on land since...
ESA The first firm details of the 15 February asteroid impact in Russia, the largest in more than a century, are becoming clear. ESA is carefully assessing the information as crucial input for developing the Agency’s asteroid-hunting effort. At 03:20 GMT on 15 February, a natural object entered the atmosphere and disintegrated in the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Extensive video records indicate a northeast to southwest path at a shallow angle of 20° above the horizontal. The...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Just one day after a spectacular meteor exploded over Russian skies, shattering windows and injuring more than a 1,200 people, Cubans were treated to a similar event, albeit on a much smaller scale. Many of Cuba’s citizens watched in wonderment as a small fireball soared across the early evening skies on Friday before exploding. Startled residents described seeing the bright light in the sky just seconds before a thunderous boom...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online A massive asteroid that crashed into Earth left behind a large impact crater in Australia and changed the entire landscape of the planet, scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) and University of Queensland claim in a recently-published study. According to Stuart Gary of ABC News in Australia, the impact zone is centered in the East Warburton Basin in the northeastern part of South Australia. It was created...
Latest Impact event Reference Libraries
Crater -- A crater is a circular depression on the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid, or other celestial body. Craters are typically caused by meteorite impacts, although some are caused by volcanic activity. In the center of craters on Earth a crater lake often accumulates, and in craters formed by meteorites a central island (caused by rebounding crustal rock after the impact) is usually a prominent feature in the lake. Ancient craters whose relief has disappeared leaving only a...
Near-Earth Asteroid -- Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are asteroids whose orbit intersects Earth's orbit and which may therefore pose a collision danger, as well as being most easily accessible for spacecraft from Earth. In fact, some near-Earth asteroids can be reached with much less ΔV than the Moon. The most famous near-Earth asteroid is 433 Eros that was visited by NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe. A few hundred such near-Earth asteroids are known, ranging in size up...
![Necho\](/media/gallery/lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter/thumbs/thumbs_480043main_902a_lg.jpg "Necho\")
