What was the biggest asteroid that hit Earth?

The Chelyabinsk meteor
The Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to have caused over $30 million in damage. It is the largest recorded object to have encountered the Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event. The meteor is estimated to have an initial diameter of 17–20 metres and a mass of roughly 10,000 tonnes.

What damage did the Chelyabinsk meteor cause?

The descent of the meteor, visible as a brilliant superbolide in the morning sky, caused a series of shock waves that shattered windows, damaged approximately 7,200 buildings and left 1,500 people injured. The resulting fragments were scattered over a wide area.

How big was the meteor that exploded over Russia?

“The asteroid was about 17 meters [56 feet] in diameter and weighed approximately 10,000 metric tons [11,000 tons],” Peter Brown, a physics professor at Western University in Ontario, Canada, said in a statement.

How big was the rock that killed the dinosaurs?

Known as the Chicxulub impactor, this large object has an estimated width of 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) and produced a crater in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula that spans 90 miles (145 kilometers).

Can you nuke an asteroid?

If the object is very large but is still a loosely-held-together rubble pile, a solution is to detonate one or a series of nuclear explosive devices alongside the asteroid, at a 20-meter (66 ft) or greater stand-off height above its surface, so as not to fracture the potentially loosely-held-together object.

Who was the Russian Prime Minister when the meteor hit?

The Chelyabinsk meteor struck without warning. Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia, confirmed a meteor had struck Russia and said it proved that the “entire planet” is vulnerable to meteors and a spaceguard system is needed to protect the planet from similar objects in the future.

Where did the Chelyabinsk meteor hit the ground?

Fragments of the meteorite that were first discovered at Lake Chebarkul. The Chelyabinsk meteorite (Russian: Челябинск or Челябинский метеорит) is the fragmented remains of the large Chelyabinsk meteor of 15 February 2013 which reached the ground after the meteor’s passage through the atmosphere.

When does an asteroid reach the ground it is called a meteor?

Illustrating all “phases”, from atmospheric entry to explosion. The visible phenomenon due to the passage of an asteroid or meteoroid through the atmosphere is called a meteor. If the object reaches the ground, then it is called a meteorite.

What was the composition of the Chelyabinsk meteorite?

First estimates of its composition indicate about 10% of meteoric iron, as well as olivine and sulfides. The impacting asteroid started to brighten up in the general direction of the Pegasus constellation, close to the East horizon where the Sun was starting to rise.