Astronomers have traced the origin of a meteor that injured about 1,000 people after breaking up over Ural mountains region in central Russia earlier this month.
Using amateur video footage, they were able to plot the meteor’s trajectory through Earth’s atmosphere and then reconstruct its orbit around the Sun.
As the space rock burned up over the city of Chelyabinsk, the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.
The team, from Colombia, has published details on the Arxiv website.
Numerous videos of the fireball were taken with camera phones, CCTV and car-dashboard cameras and subsequently shared widely on the web. Furthermore, traffic camera footage of the fireball had precise time and date stamps.
Early estimates of the meteor’s mass put it at ten tonnes; US space agency NASA later estimated it to be between 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes. NASA estimates the size of the object was about 17m (55ft).
Using the footage and the location of an impact into Lake Chebarkul, Jorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin, from the University of Antioquia in Medellin were able to use simple trigonometry to calculate the height, speed and position of the rock as it fell to Earth.
Astronomers have traced the origin of a meteor that injured about 1,000 people after breaking up over Ural mountains region in central Russia earlier this month
To reconstruct the meteor’s original orbit around the Sun, they used six different properties of its trajectory through Earth’s atmosphere. Most of these are related to the point at which the meteor becomes bright enough to cast a noticeable shadow in the videos.
The researchers then plugged their figures into astronomy software developed by the US Naval Observatory.
The results suggest the meteor belongs to a well known family of space rocks – known as the Apollo asteroids – that cross Earth’s orbit.
Of about 9,700 near-Earth asteroids discovered so far, about 5,200 are thought to be Apollos. Asteroids are divided into different groups such as Apollo, Aten, or Amor, based on the type of orbit they have.
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Russia starts a big rescue and clean-up operation involving more than 9,000 workers in the Ural Mountains following Friday’s meteor strike, Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov says.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the operation to help some 1,200 people who were injured, including 200 children, mostly by shattered glass.
The shockwave damaged an estimated 200,000 sq m (50 acres) of windows.
Russian officials put the cost of the damage at about 1billionn roubles ($33 million).
A fireball had streaked through the sky on Friday, followed by loud bangs.
A large fragment reportedly landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in the Chelyabinsk region. A Russian army spokesman said a crater 6 m (20 ft) wide had been found there.
An emergencies ministry spokeswoman said a group of six divers would inspect the waters for the presence of pieces of a meteorite.
Vladimir Puchkov toured Chelyabinsk city on Saturday to assess the damage.
He said: “We have a special team working… that is now assessing the seismic stability of buildings. We will be especially careful about switching the gas back on.”
More than 9,000 people are working to clear up the damage in the Chelyabinsk region. Most are locals, but some 1,800 people came from neighboring regions.
Vladimir Putin said he had thanked God that no big fragments of the 10-tonne meteor – which was thought to be made of iron and travelling at some 30 km (19 miles) per second – had fallen in populated areas.
It had entered the Earth’s atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km (20-30 miles) above ground, according to Russia’s Academy of Sciences, releasing several kilotons of energy – the equivalent of a small atomic weapon.
Vladimir Puchkov said there was no confirmation yet that any fragments had been found.
The emergencies ministry urged calm, saying background radiation levels were normal after what it described as a “meteorite shower in the form of fireballs”.
Russia starts a big rescue and clean-up operation involving more than 9,000 workers in the Ural Mountains following Friday’s meteor strike
Some 50 people remain in hospital for treatment – mainly for cuts and bruises from shattered glass.
The Chelyabinsk region, about 1,500km east of Moscow, is home to many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
The shockwave blew out windows in more than 4,000 buildings in the region.
Regional governor Mikhail Yurevich said damage was estimated at 1 billion roubles but dismissed as a “journalistic spoof” reports in Russian media that people had deliberately shattered windows to claim on meteorite-related insurance.
Many children were in classrooms when the meteor fell at around 09:20 local time.
Video posted online showed frightened, screaming youngsters at one Chelyabinsk school, where corridors were littered with broken glass.
Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid which raced past the Earth later on Friday at a distance of just 27,700 km (17,200 miles) – the closest ever for an object of that size.
Such meteor strikes are rare in Russia but one is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (770 sq m) in Siberia in 1908.
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The meteor crashing in Russia’s Ural Mountains has injured at least 985 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.
Most of those hurt, in the Chelyabinsk region where the meteor fell, suffered cuts and bruises but at least 46 remain in hospital.
A fireball streaked through the clear morning sky, followed by loud bangs.
President Vladimir Putin said he thanked God no big fragments had fallen in populated areas.
A large meteor fragment landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in Chelyabinsk region.
The meteor’s dramatic passing was witnessed in Yekaterinburg, 200 km (125 miles) to the north, and in Kazakhstan, to the south.
Officials say a large meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards.
Thousands of rescue workers have been dispatched to the area to provide help to the injured, the emergencies ministry said.
The Chelyabinsk region, about 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Moscow, is home to many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
One Russian politician said the event was not a meteor shower but a US weapons test, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The meteor crashing in Russia’s Ural Mountains has injured at least 985 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted as saying: “Meteors are falling. Those are not meteors, it is Americans testing their new weapon.”
Chelyabinsk’s health department said 985 people had sought medical treatment, including 204 children, Interfax reported. Two people in the town of Kopeysk were in a serious condition, it added.
The governor of Chelyabinsk region, Mikhail Yurevich, was quoted elsewhere as saying 950 people had been hurt, two seriously.
Vladimir Putin promised “immediate” aid for people affected, saying kindergartens and schools had been damaged, and work disrupted at industrial enterprises.
Many children were at lessons when the meteor fell at around 09:20.
Video posted online showed frightened, screaming youngsters at one Chelyabinsk school, where corridors were littered with broken glass.
The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates that the meteor weighed about 10 tonnes and entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 km/h (33,000mph).
It would have shattered about 30-50km (18-32 miles) above ground, with most of the meteor burning up.
Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid expected to race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700 km (17,200 miles) – the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.
Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons, of the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, said there was “almost definitely” no connection.
“One reason is that 2012 DA14 is approaching Earth from the south, and this object hit in the northern hemisphere,” he said.
“This is literally a cosmic coincidence, although a spectacular one.”
Such meteor strikes are rare in Russia but one is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 m) in Siberia in 1908.
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