[meteorite-list] First Study of Chelyabinsk Meteorite

From: Bernd V. Pauli <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 22:00:44 +0000
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000005900006ABF_at_10.0.100.101>

Hello List,

Jeff inquired:

"I keep hearing lines like 'Chelyabinsk was the largest meteoroid
 strike since the Tunguska event'. What about Sikhote-Alin? Does
 anyone know if there are any accurate modellings on that fall in
 terms of size, weight and energy?"

Here's what was able to cull from my sources:

Tunguska

megatons of TNT: 10-40 (probably 15)
mass (tons): 7 x 10^6 (if cometary)
mass (tons): 3.5 x 10^4 (if stony)
diameter (m): > 160 (if cometary)
diameter (m): > 60 (if stony)
speed (km/s): ca. 18 (?)+

+ Sekanina's opinion: from the breakup height the object was not
 traveling much more than 11 km/s when it entered the atmosphere

Chelyabinsk

megatons of TNT: ca. 0.6
mass (tons): 11,000
diameter (m): 18
speed (km/s): 19

Sikhote-Alin

megatons of TNT: ca. 0.0035-0.013
mass (tons): 200-500
diameter (m): 600*
speed (km/s): 14

* apparent diameter of the bolide with its luminous envelope

Cheers,

Bernd
Received on Thu 07 Nov 2013 05:00:44 PM PST