The site of the meteorite fall near Chelyabinsk. Where did the meteorite fall in Chelyabinsk? Photos and details from the site of the meteorite fall

> Chelyabinsk meteorite

Learn the history of the fall Chelyabinsk meteorite: description and characteristics of the object with a photo, force of impact, where it fell, size, where it came from, composition, age.

Five years have passed since the people of South Urals witnessed a cosmic cataclysm - the fall Chelyabinsk meteorite, which became the first modern history an incident that caused significant harm to the local population.

The asteroid fell in 2013, on February 15. At first, it seemed to the South Urals that an “obscure object” had exploded; many saw strange lightning lighting up the sky. This is the conclusion reached by scientists who studied this incident for a year.

Data on the Chelyabinsk meteorite

A fairly ordinary comet fell in an area near Chelyabinsk. Falls of space objects of precisely this nature occur once every century. Although, according to other sources, they happen repeatedly, on average up to 5 times every 100 years. According to scientists, comets with a size of about 10 m fly into the atmosphere of our Earth approximately once a year, which is 2 times larger than the Chelyabinsk meteorite, but this often happens over regions with a small population or over the oceans. Moreover, comets burn up and collapse at great heights, without causing any damage.

Before the fall, the mass of the Chelyabinsk aerolite was from 7 to 13 thousand tons, and its parameters supposedly reached 19.8 m. After analyzing, scientists found out that only about 0.05% of the initial mass fell to the surface of the earth, that’s 4-6 tons. Currently, a little more than one ton has been collected from this amount, including one of the large fragments of aerolite weighing 654 kg, raised from the bottom of Chebarkul Lake.

A study of the Chelyabinsk maetorite based on geochemical parameters revealed that it belongs to the type of ordinary chondrites of class LL5. This is the most common subgroup of stony meteorites. All currently discovered meteorites, about 90%, are chondrites. They got their name due to the presence of chondrules in them - spherical fused formations with a diameter of 1 mm.

Indications from infrasound stations indicate that at the minute of strong braking of the Chelyabinsk aerolite, when approximately 90 km remained to the ground, a powerful explosion force equal to the TNT equivalent of 470-570 kilotons, which is 20-30 times stronger atomic explosion in Hiroshima, but in terms of explosive power it is inferior to the fall Tunguska meteorite(about 10 to 50 megatons) more than 10 times.

The fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite immediately created a sensation both in time and place. In modern history, this space object is the first meteorite to fall into such a densely populated area, resulting in significant damage. So, during the meteorite explosion, the windows of more than 7 thousand houses were broken, more than one and a half thousand people appealed for medical care, of which 112 were hospitalized.

In addition to significant damage, the meteorite also brought positive results. This event is the best documented event to date. In addition, one video camera recorded the phase of the fall of one of the large fragments of the asteroid into Lake Chebarkul.

Where did the Chelyabinsk meteorite come from?

For scientists, this question was not special labor. It emerged from our main asteroid belt. solar system, zones in the middle of the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, where the paths of most small bodies lie. The orbits of some of them, for example, the asteroids of the Aten or Apollo group, are elongated and can pass through the orbit of the Earth.

Astronomers were able to quite accurately determine the flight trajectory of the Chelyabinsk resident, thanks to many photo and video recordings, as well as satellite photographs that captured the fall. Then astronomers continued the meteorite's path to reverse side, for the atmosphere, in order to build the complete orbit of this object.

Several groups of astronomers tried to determine the path of the Chelyabinsk meteorite before it hit the Earth. According to their calculations, it can be seen that the semimajor axis of the orbit of the fallen meteorite was approximately 1.76 AU. (astronomical unit), this is the average radius of the Earth's orbit; the point of the orbit closest to the Sun - perihelion, was at a distance of 0.74 AU, and the point most distant from the Sun - aphelion, or apohelion, was at 2.6 AU.

These figures allowed scientists to try to find the Chelyabinsk meteorite in astronomical catalogs of already identified small space objects. It is clear that most of the previously identified asteroids, after some time, “fall out of sight” again, and then some of the “lost” ones manage to be “discovered” a second time. Astronomers did not reject this option, that the fallen meteorite may be the “lost one.”

Relatives of the Chelyabinsk meteorite

Although complete similarities were not revealed during the search, astronomers still found a number of probable “relatives” of the asteroid from Chelyabinsk. Scientists from Spain Raul and Carlos de la Fluente Marcos, having calculated all the variations in the orbits of the “Chelyabinsk”, found its supposed forefather - asteroid 2011 EO40. In their opinion, the Chelyabinsk meteorite broke away from it for about 20-40 thousand years.

Another team (Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) led by Jiri Borovička, having calculated the glide path of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, found that it is very similar to the orbit of asteroid 86039 (1999 NC43) with a size of 2.2 km. For example, the semimajor axis of the orbit of both objects is 1.72 and 1.75 AU, and the perihelion distance is 0.738 and 0.74.

The difficult life path of the Chelyabinsk meteorite

Based on the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite that fell to the surface of the earth, scientists “determined” its life history. It turns out that the Chelyabinsk meteorite is the same age as our solar system. When studying the proportions of uranium and lead isotopes, it was found that it is approximately 4.45 billion years old.

His difficult biography is indicated by dark threads in the thickness of the meteorite. They arose when substances that got inside as a result of a strong impact melted. This shows that approximately 290 million years ago this asteroid survived a powerful collision with some kind of space object.

According to scientists from the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry named after. Vernadsky RAS, the collision took approximately several minutes. This is indicated by leaks of iron nuclei that did not have time to completely melt.

At the same time, scientists from the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy SB RAS (Institute of Geology and Mineralogy) do not reject the fact that traces of melting may have appeared due to the excessive proximity of the cosmic body to the Sun.

I deliberately paused so as not to create myths and mysteries without more or less reliable facts. Now that such facts already exist, it is time to systematize the information.

Where did the meteorite fall?

So, on the morning of February 15, 2013, at 9.20 local time (at 7.20 Moscow time), a meteoroid - that is, a celestial body smaller in size than an asteroid - entered the Earth’s surface at a very acute angle. If such a body reaches the surface of the planet, it is called a meteorite, and if it burns up in dense layers of the atmosphere, it is called a meteor. IN in this case the meteoroid exploded in the air at an altitude of approximately 15 to 25 km and its numerous fragments reached the Earth. The largest fragment supposedly fell into Lake Chebarkul, which is located a kilometer from the city of the same name in Chelyabinsk region(78 km west of Chelyabinsk). The weight of this fragment is believed to be between 200 and 500 kg. In addition, the very next day enthusiasts of the Ural Federal meteorite expedition began collecting small fragments heavenly guest. The total of all collected fragments is about this moment about 3 kg. In addition to the vicinity of Lake Chebarkul, fragments were found in the southern suburbs of Chelyabinsk - Pervomaisky, Yemanzhelinka, Deputatsky. Scientists also suggest the possibility of finding fragments also in the area of ​​the village of Shchapino and the village of Travniki.

Consequences of a meteorite fall

The explosion of a meteoroid in the atmosphere caused numerous destructions in Chelyabinsk and its surroundings. Fortunately, there were no deaths, but many people suffered from glass broken by the shock wave. More than 1,600 people received various injuries, of which 69 were so serious that they required hospitalization. At the moment, all the victims have already been discharged from hospitals.

Most of the damage was caused by broken glass (the windows of about 3,000 houses were damaged to one degree or another), but at the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant the damage was more serious - the roof was destroyed and some walls of the buildings were damaged. In the very first information that began to arrive immediately after the disaster, this particular plant was called the site of the meteorite fall. But now we can say with confidence that the destruction was caused by a shock wave from an explosion equivalent to 100-200 kilotons of TNT. For comparison, the energy of the first atomic bomb, exploded over Hiroshima, was no more than 18 kilotons.

The diameter of the meteoroid at the time of the explosion was approximately 17 m, its weight was about 10 tons, and its speed was 18 km/s.

Immediately after the disaster, they began to calculate the damage, which multiplied exponentially. There were anecdotal situations where people themselves broke the windows in their homes after hearing about compensation for victims of the explosion.

In addition, offers for the sale of meteorite fragments immediately began to appear on the Internet, and the total weight of these “finds” exceeded not only the weight of the one already found at that time, but also the entire meteorite.

Previously, it was proposed to name the meteorite “Chebarkul”, but later settled on the name “Chelyabinsk”.

After the fall of the Tunguska meteorite in 1908 on the territory of our country, only once did we encounter a phenomenon of this magnitude - in 1947 in the Primorsky Territory on Far East A meteorite with a total mass of about 23 tons fell in the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Based on the name of the area, it was called Sikhote-Alinsky.

A compilation of videos filmed by eyewitnesses.

Exactly five years ago, on February 15, 2013, residents of the Chelyabinsk region saw a bright flash in the sky. Many mistook it for a fallen plane or satellite and did not immediately recognize that a meteorite had exploded over the region. It split into dozens of fragments, the search for which is still ongoing. Leading Researcher Department of Lunar and Planetary Research of the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute Vladimir Busarev told MIR 24 about why the Chelyabinsk meteorite miraculously survived and how to behave if you suddenly find a fragment of a cosmic body.

- Every year thousands of meteorites fall to Earth. Why did Chelyabinsk turn out to be so popular?

This is the first time we have observed a case where an ordinary chondrite fell to Earth, and in such a large volume. The weight of the fragments that reached the Earth exceeded 650 kilograms. This is a fairly rare type of meteorite, which is why it is considered a find. It is also important that the Chelyabinsk meteorite was found relatively quickly - six months after the fall, and began to be studied immediately. Stones that have lain for some time on the surface of the Earth have less value. They have definitely undergone changes that are characteristic only of terrestrial conditions, but not of cosmic matter. Thus, on the largest fragment of a meteorite that fell into Lake Chebarkul, living microorganisms of terrestrial origin were discovered. But it cannot be said that this prevented research.

- How did these bacteria get there?

The largest fragment of the meteorite lay at the bottom of the lake for six months. It turned out that it had pores through which it was saturated with earthly water, and along with it bacteria penetrated the surface of the fragment. However, we cannot say that the origin of microorganisms is extraterrestrial, because we are dealing with a substance that was contaminated under terrestrial conditions. The Chelyabinsk meteorite has no signs of extraterrestrial life. This can be said with complete certainty, even though not all the fragments have yet been recovered from the bottom of the lake.

- Colleagues from Ural University We gave you a sample of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. Tell us about it.

It is small, weighing several tens of grams. We studied it in laboratory conditions. We looked at its reflective characteristics and composition of the substance. We were convinced that it was a stone meteorite, it consists of the so-called ordinary chondrite. The iron content in it is small, no more than 20 percent. These types of stony meteorites are quite rare. They have poor "survival" because they are less able to survive passage through earth's atmosphere. That is, they are very fragile. In general, all known meteorites have been studied by us only a quarter. Therefore, space projects to deliver samples from the Moon or Mars are of great interest. Only original cosmic matter can give full information about the origin of a particular planet of the solar system or an asteroid.

- Was it because of this fragility that the explosion occurred?

Yes, from the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite it is clear that its body is not monolithic, it cracked while flying towards the Earth. If the body had been monolithic, perhaps the explosion would not have occurred, and earth's surface a fragment of greater mass would fall. Eyewitnesses said they heard a series of explosions, but in fact there was only one explosion. The sound simply had a whole spectrum of waves. The acoustic effect was like thunder: at first the sound was weak, then it intensified. People thought there were several explosions. The fact is that meteorite fragments entered the atmosphere at supersonic speed, and there were many of these fragments. This explains the unusual sound effects.

- Why was the meteorite called Chelyabinsk and not Chebarkul?

Initially they wanted to call it Chebarkul. But the fact is that only the largest fragment of a meteorite fell in Chebarkul. The substance, a fragment of which is the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scattered beyond this settlement over a fairly large area. Therefore, the scientific community decided to emphasize in the title that the fall of the cosmic body occurred in the Chelyabinsk region and did not concern only Chebarkul.

- What is known about the cosmic body from which the Chelyabinsk meteorite broke off?

It is approximately 4.5 billion years old. About 300 million years ago it collided with other cosmic bodies. A strong collision led to fragmentation and the formation of a secondary body, which, in turn, was also fragmented. The fact of the collision is confirmed by jadeite, a greenish mineral that is part of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. It is formed only when high temperatures and pressure, is a bit like jade, a mineral used to make jewelry.

Particularly enterprising residents of Chelyabinsk have repeatedly tried to sell fragments of the famous meteorite. How do you feel about this behavior?

Scientists, in principle, have a negative attitude towards this type of fraud and urge all people who find meteorites to donate them for research. Thus, fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite must first be given to the Chelyabinsk State University. Also in Moscow, at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, there is a committee on meteorites. We must understand that scientists always have the opportunity to obtain some valuable information about meteorites. Any such finds are of scientific interest to us, and the state is ready to pay for them.

- Which of the meteorites that fell in Russia is considered the most mysterious?

Perhaps Tunguska. There was no debris left from it, so no one knows exactly what this meteorite was. I can assume that it was a meteorite of a primitive icy composition. The sudden heating in the Earth's atmosphere led to a thermal explosion. If you remember, this explosion was accompanied by a powerful glow. It was as strong as a nuclear explosion. There is still an assumption that it was not a meteorite, but a nuclear explosion. But this is not so, because no products of thermonuclear reactions were found at the site. You can learn more about the Tunguska meteorite, but to do this you need to study a large area in permafrost impenetrable taiga using highly sensitive technology. This is quite difficult to organize. In addition, if any isotopes are discovered there, they need to be studied immediately on the spot. Transporting them is very difficult. If we could conduct a long-term expedition, we would learn something new about the Tunguska meteorite.

At the time of entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the Chelyabinsk meteorite weighed 13 thousand tons and was the size of a seven-story building. Among the meteorites that fell in Russia, it became the largest after Tunguska. Scientists have determined that the meteorite entered the atmosphere at a speed of 19 kilometers per second. Some of the fragments, approaching the Earth, collapsed and burned in the atmosphere. The shock wave knocked out glass in many buildings and destroyed the cladding. About a thousand people received injuries of varying severity. The material damage to the region from the meteorite fall exceeded a billion rubles. The largest fragment of the meteorite became an exhibit at the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals. Everyone can touch it.

Most often, meteorites fall in Antarctica. According to experts, there are about 700 thousand of them scattered on the mainland. The largest meteorite is called Goba, it was discovered in Namibia in 1920. Its weight exceeds 60 tons.

MOSCOW, February 14 – RIA Novosti. A year ago, February 15, 2013, residents southern Urals witnessed space catastrophe- the fall of an asteroid, which was the first such event in history to cause serious damage to people.

In the first moments, residents of the region spoke about the explosion of an “unknown object” and strange flashes. Scientists spent a whole year studying this event, what they managed to find out at this point - read the RIA Novosti review.

What was it?

A rather ordinary cosmic body fell in the Chelyabinsk region. Events of this magnitude occur once every 100 years, and according to some data, more often, up to five times a century. Scientists believe that bodies approximately ten meters in size (about half the size of the Chelyabinsk body) enter the Earth's atmosphere about once a year, but this happens most often over the oceans or over sparsely populated regions. Such bodies explode and burn on high altitude without causing any harm.

The size of the Chelyabinsk asteroid before the fall was about 19.8 meters, and its mass was from 7 thousand to 13 thousand tons. According to scientists, a total of 4 to 6 tons fell to the ground, that is, about 0.05% of the original mass. Of this amount, no more than 1 ton has been collected at the moment, taking into account the largest fragment weighing 654 kilograms, raised from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul.

Geochemical analysis showed that the Chelyabinsk space object belongs to the type of ordinary chondrites of class LL5. Chondrites are one of the most common types of stony meteorites; about 87% of all meteorites found belong to this type. They are distinguished by the presence in the thickness of rounded grains of millimeter size - chondrules, which consist of partially melted substance.

Data from infrasound stations indicate that the power of the explosion that occurred at the moment of sharp braking of the Chelyabinsk asteroid at an altitude of about 90 kilometers ranged from 470 to 570 kilotons. TNT equivalent- it is 20-30 times more powerful nuclear explosion in Hiroshima, but more than ten times less than the power of the explosion at the time of the Tunguska disaster (from 10 to 50 megatons).

What made this fall unique was the place and time. This is the first time in history that a large meteorite has fallen in a densely populated area, so never before has a meteorite fallen caused such serious damage - 1.6 thousand people turned to doctors, 112 were hospitalized, windows were broken in 7.3 thousand buildings.

Thanks to this, scientists have obtained a huge amount of data about the event - it is the best documented meteorite fall. As it turned out later, one of the video cameras even captured the moment the largest fragment fell into Lake Chebarkul.

Where did this come from?

Scientists answered this question almost immediately: from the main asteroid belt of the Solar System, the region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where the trajectories of many small bodies pass. The orbits of some of them, in particular, the Apollo and Aten group asteroids, are elongated and can cross the Earth’s orbit.

Thanks to the fact that the flight of the Chelyabinsk bolide was recorded on many videos and photographs, including satellite ones, astronomers could fairly accurately restore its trajectory, and then try to continue this line back, beyond the atmosphere, to build the orbit of this body.

Attempts to restore the trajectory of the Chelyabinsk body before the collision with the Earth were made by different groups of astronomers. Their calculations showed that the semimajor axis of the Chelyabinsk asteroid’s orbit was about 1.76 astronomical units (the average radius of the Earth’s orbit), perihelion (the point of the orbit closest to the Sun) was at a distance of 0.74 units, aphelion (the most distant point) - at 2 ,6 units.

With this data in hand, scientists tried to find the Chelyabinsk asteroid in catalogs of previously discovered small bodies. It is known that many already discovered asteroids are “lost” again after some time, and some of them are discovered twice. Scientists did not rule out that the Chelyabinsk object belonged to such “lost” bodies.

His relatives

Although an exact match could not be found, scientists have found several possible “relatives” of the “Chelyabinsk resident.” Jiri Borovichka's team from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences calculated the trajectory of the Chelyabinsk body and found that it is very similar to the orbit of the 2.2-kilometer asteroid 86039 (1999 NC43). In particular, the semimajor axis of the orbit of both bodies is 1.72 and 1.75 astronomical units, the perihelion distance is 0.738 and 0.74.

Spanish astronomers Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos (Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, Raul de la Fuente Marcos) analyzed all variants of the orbits of the Chelyabinsk cosmic body and found another possible progenitor of the Chelyabinsk superbolide - asteroid 2011 EO40. In their opinion, the Chelyabinsk asteroid broke away from it about 20-40 thousand years ago. The meteorite, later named "Chelyabinsk", fell on February 15, 2013. Scientists still cannot figure out why some meteorite fragments are completely dark, while others are light inside.

Fragments of the Chelyabinsk cosmic body that fell to earth “told” scientists the story of its life. It turned out that the Chelyabinsk asteroid is the same age as the Solar System. Analysis of lead and uranium isotope ratios showed that its age is about 4.45 billion years.

However, approximately 290 million years ago, the Chelyabinsk asteroid survived major disaster- collision with another cosmic body. This is evidenced by dark veins in its thickness - traces of melting of the substance during a powerful impact.

However, scientists believe that this was a very “fast” process. The traces of cosmic particles - the tracks of iron nuclei - did not have time to melt, which means that the “accident” itself lasted no more than a few minutes, stated specialists from the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

At the same time, it is possible that traces of melting could have appeared during the asteroid’s too close approach to the Sun, according to scientists from the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy (IGM) SB RAS.

The Ural meteorite distracted scientists for some time from another space object - an asteroid, which is approaching the Earth at these moments. According to calculations, it will approach its minimum distance to our planet at 23:20 Moscow time. This unique event will be broadcast live on NASA's website. Residents of Asia and Australia, as well as possibly some areas, will be able to see the asteroid of Eastern Europe.

In a little more than 2 hours, the DA14 object will pass by the Earth at a distance of 28 thousand kilometers - this is closer than some satellites fly. If this asteroid weighing 130 tons and with a diameter of 45 meters collided with our planet, the explosion would be equal to one thousand Hiroshimas. There was even an assumption that the meteorite that fell in the Urals could be part of this space monster and that other, larger ones would follow. However, most scientists do not see a connection with the DA14 asteroid and the Ural meteorite.

“As for whether Armageddon threatens us or not, it is now known for certain. All asteroids larger than one kilometer in diameter that bring such a catastrophe to the Earth on a large scale, they are all known and have well-known orbits, they are all cataloged and observed There is no danger from them,” assured Lidia Rykhlova, head of the department of space astrometry at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

While they were monitoring the large asteroid, they overlooked the meteorite that fell in the Urals. However, it was almost impossible to see it before entering the atmosphere - neither civilian observatories nor missile defense radars can do this - the size is too small and the speed is too high. The military says that even if such a meteorite is discovered, destroy such objects modern systems Air defense is not yet capable. Already in retrospect, scientists derived data from a celestial body that had already fallen in the Urals - mass several tons, speed 15 kilometers per second, angle of incidence - 45 degrees, shock wave power - several kilotons. At an altitude of 50 kilometers, the object collapsed into 3 parts and almost completely burned up in the atmosphere.

“No more than 10 meters in diameter, it flew at supersonic speed and therefore generated a shock wave. This shock wave caused all this destruction, people were injured not by meteorite fragments, but by the shock wave. Now, if a supersonic plane would have passed on the same altitude, for example, God forbid above Moscow, the destruction would have been the same,” said the deputy director of the State Astronomical Institute. Sternberg Sergey Lamzin.

Any space object that reaches the Earth's atmosphere and leaves a trace in it is called a meteorite by scientists. As a rule, they are small in size and, moving in the air at a speed of several kilometers per second, completely burn out. And yet, about 5 tons of cosmic matter fall to Earth every day in the form of dust and small grains of sand. Almost all space guests come to us from the so-called asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

“A kind of trash heap of the Solar system, where all the debris is concentrated. Collisions between asteroids occur in this belt. As a result, certain debris is formed that can acquire an orbit that intersects the orbit of the Earth,” said Mikhail Nazarov.

However, some scientists believe that it was not a meteorite that fell near Chelyabinsk. They are confident that no one will ever find any debris, just as the fragments of the Tunguska meteorite were not found. We are most likely talking about a cooled comet, which consists of frozen gases.

“If the nucleus of a first-generation comet invades the Earth, then it burns up almost completely in the Earth’s atmosphere, and it is impossible to find any remains on the surface. This is similar to the Tunguska phenomenon, when no remains of the body were found, but there was a large fall of forest over a large area and the trees were all heavily charred,” said Vladislav Leonov, a researcher at the Department of Space Astrometry at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Nevertheless, the search for meteorite remains near Chelyabinsk continues. At the same time, not only rescuers and scientists are searching; now dozens of meteorite hunters have already rushed to the area of ​​the supposed fall. The price of some of them on the black market can reach several thousand rubles per gram.