[meteorite-list] Russian Meteor Not Associated With Asteroid 2012 DA14

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:38:44 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201302151838.r1FIciYe022082_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-061

Russian Meteor Not Associated With Asteroid 2012 DA14
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
February 15, 2013

Preliminary information indicates that the fireball in Chelyabinsk,
Russia, is not related to asteroid 2012 DA14, which is flying by Earth
today.

The Russian fireball is the largest reported fireball since the 1908
Tunguska event. The fireball entered the atmosphere at 18 km per second.
The impact time was 3:20:26 UTC, and the energy released by the impact
was in the hundreds of kilotons. Based on the duration of the event, it
was a very shallow entry. It was larger than the fireball over Ind
onesia on Oct. 8, 2009. Measurements are still coming in, and a more
precise measure of the energy may be available later. The size of the
object before hitting the atmosphere was about 15 meters, the pre-impacting
asteroid was about 15 meters in diameter and had a mass of about 7,000 tons.
It was about 1/4 the size of asteroid 2012 DA14. The fireball trail was
visible for about 30 seconds, so it was a grazing impact through the
atmosphere. The fireball was brighter than the sun.

It is important to note that this estimate is preliminary, and some of the
estimates may be revised as more data is obtained.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html
Received on Fri 15 Feb 2013 01:38:44 PM PST