[meteorite-list] Asteroid Impact Could Have Prompted Constantine's Conversion

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:41 2004
Message-ID: <200306191702.KAA13646_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_791768.html

Asteroid impact could have prompted Constantine's conversion
Ananova
June 18, 2003

An asteroid which exploded like a nuclear bomb may have converted the Roman
emperor Constantine to Christianity it is now being claimed.

Scientists have discovered an impact crater dating from the fourth of fifth century
in the Italian Apennine mountains.

They believe the crater in the Sirente mountains, which is larger than a football
field, could explain the legend of Constantine's conversion.

Accounts from the 4th century describe how barbarians stood at the gates of the
Roman empire while a Christian movement threatened its stability from within.

It is said the emperor saw an amazing vision in the sky, converted to Christianity
on the spot, and led his army to victory under the sign of the cross.

Swedish geologist Jens Ormo discovered the crater after spotting a photograph of
an unusually round lake in Italy's Sirente-Velino Regional Park.

A visit to the site quickly identified several tell-tale features of an impact crater,
New Scientist magazine reported.

The seasonal lake, 140 metres across, had a pronounced raised rim and no inlet or
outlet, being filled by rainfall.

Ormo's team believe they were made when an asteroid about 10 metres in
diameter shattered during entry into the atmosphere.

New Scientist said: "From the crater size, Ormo estimates that the impact had an
explosive force of a kiloton - equivalent to a very small nuclear weapon. Indeed, it
would have looked like a nuclear blast, with shock waves, earthquakes and a
mushroom cloud."
Received on Thu 19 Jun 2003 01:02:14 PM PDT