What kind of meteorite falls to earth? Consequences of meteorites of various diameters falling to the ground

Cosmic bodies are constantly falling onto our planet. Some of them are the size of a grain of sand, others can weigh several hundred kilograms and even tons. Canadian scientists from the Ottawa Astrophysical Institute claim that a meteorite shower with a total mass of more than 21 tons falls on Earth per year, and individual meteorites weigh from a few grams to 1 ton.

In this article we will recall the 10 largest meteorites that fell to Earth.

Sutter Mill meteorite, April 22, 2012

This meteorite, named Sutter Mill, appeared near the Earth on April 22, 2012, moving at a breakneck speed of 29 km/sec. It flew over the states of Nevada and California, scattering its hot fragments, and exploded over Washington. The power of the explosion was about 4 kilotons of TNT. For comparison, yesterday’s power was 300 kilotons of TNT.

Scientists have found that the Sutter Mill meteorite appeared in the early days of its existence, and the progenitor cosmic body was formed over 4566.57 million years ago.

Almost a year ago, on February 11, 2012, about a hundred meteorite stones fell over an area of ​​100 km in one of the regions of China. The largest meteorite found weighed 12.6 kg. The meteorites are believed to have come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Meteorite from Peru, September 15, 2007

This meteorite fell in Peru near Lake Titicaca, near the border with Bolivia. Eyewitnesses claimed that at first there was a strong noise, similar to the sound of a falling plane, but then they saw a falling body engulfed in fire.

A bright trail from a white-hot cosmic body entering the Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor.

At the site of the fall, the explosion formed a crater with a diameter of 30 and a depth of 6 meters, from which a fountain of boiling water began to flow. The meteorite probably contained toxic substances, as 1,500 people living nearby began to experience severe headaches.

By the way, most often stone meteorites (92.8%), consisting mainly of silicates, fall to Earth. , was made of iron, according to first estimates.

Kunya-Urgench meteorite from Turkmenistan, June 20, 1998

The meteorite fell near the Turkmen city of Kunya-Urgench, hence its name. Before the fall, residents saw a bright light. The largest part of the meteorite, weighing 820 kg, fell into a cotton field, creating a crater about 5 meters.

This one, more than 4 billion years old, has received a certificate from the International Meteor Society and is considered the largest among stone meteorites of all that fell in the CIS and the third in the world.

Fragment of a Turkmen meteorite:

Meteorite Sterlitamak, May 17, 1990

Iron meteorite Sterlitamak weighing 315 kg fell on a state farm field 20 km west of the city of Sterlitamak on the night of May 17-18, 1990. When a meteorite fell, a crater with a diameter of 10 meters was formed.

First, small metal fragments were found, and only a year later, at a depth of 12 meters, the largest fragment weighing 315 kg was found. Now the meteorite (0.5 x 0.4 x 0.25 meters) is in the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the Ufa Scientific Center Russian Academy Sci.

Fragments of a meteorite. On the left is the same fragment weighing 315 kg:

Largest meteor shower, China, March 8, 1976

In March 1976, the largest meteorite rock shower in the world occurred in the Chinese province of Jilin, lasting 37 minutes. Cosmic bodies fell to the ground at a speed of 12 km/sec.

Fantasy on the theme of meteorites:

Then they found about a hundred meteorites, including the largest - the 1.7-ton Jilin (Girin) meteorite.

These are the stones that fell from the sky onto China for 37 minutes:

Meteorite Sikhote-Alin, Far East, February 12, 1947

A meteorite fell on Far East in the Ussuri taiga in the Sikhote-Alin mountains on February 12, 1947. It fragmented in the atmosphere and fell in the form of iron rain over an area of ​​10 sq. km.

After the fall, more than 30 craters were formed with a diameter of 7 to 28 m and a depth of up to 6 meters. About 27 tons of meteorite material were collected.

Fragments of “piece of iron” that fell from the sky during a meteor shower:

Goba meteorite, Namibia, 1920

Meet Goba - largest meteorite ever found! Strictly speaking, it fell approximately 80,000 years ago. This iron giant weighs about 66 tons and has a volume of 9 cubic meters. fell in prehistoric times and was found in Namibia in 1920 near Grootfontein.

The Goba meteorite is mainly composed of iron and is considered the heaviest of all celestial bodies of this kind that has ever appeared on Earth. It is preserved at a crash site in southwest Africa, Namibia, near Goba West Farm. This is also the largest piece of iron on Earth natural origin. Since 1920, the meteorite has shrunk slightly: erosion, scientific research and vandalism did their job: the meteorite “lost weight” to 60 tons.

The mystery of the Tunguska meteorite, 1908

On June 30, 1908, at about 07 a.m., a large fireball flew over the territory of the Yenisei basin from southeast to northwest. The flight ended with an explosion at an altitude of 7-10 km above an uninhabited taiga region. The blast wave circled twice globe and was recorded by observatories around the world.

The power of the explosion is estimated at 40-50 megatons, which corresponds to the energy of the most powerful hydrogen bomb. The flight speed of the space giant was tens of kilometers per second. Weight - from 100 thousand to 1 million tons!

Podkamennaya Tunguska River area:

As a result of the explosion, trees were knocked down over an area of ​​more than 2,000 square meters. km, window glass in houses was broken several hundred kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. The blast wave destroyed animals and injured people within a radius of about 40 km. For several days, intense sky glow and luminous clouds were observed from the Atlantic to central Siberia:

But what was it? If it was a meteorite, then a huge crater half a kilometer deep should have appeared at the site of its fall. But none of the expeditions succeeded in finding him...

The Tunguska meteorite is, on the one hand, one of the most well-studied phenomena, on the other hand, one of the most mysterious phenomena of the past century. The celestial body exploded in the air and no remains of it, except for the consequences of the explosion, were found on the ground.

Meteor shower of 1833

On the night of November 13, 1833 over eastern territory There was a meteor shower in the USA. It continued continuously for 10 hours! During this time, about 240,000 meteorites of various sizes fell onto the Earth's surface. The source of the 1833 meteor shower was the most powerful meteor shower known. This shower is now called the Leonids after the constellation Leo, against which it is visible every year in mid-November. On a much more modest scale, of course.

Meteorites have fallen to earth countless times. There were also those that could completely erase the very fact of the existence of dinosaurs. But the events took place so long ago that it is not possible to find the remains of these cobblestones.

Meteorite Tsarev

In December 1922, residents of the Astrakhan province were able to observe a stone falling from the sky: eyewitnesses said that the fireball was enormous in size and made a deafening noise in flight.

Afterwards there was an explosion, and then it started raining stones. The next day, farmers living in that area found fragments of stones of strange shape and appearance in their fields.


A total of 82 chondritic meteorites were found, with debris scattered over an area of ​​25 km2. The largest fragment weighs 284 kg, and the smallest is only 50 grams.

Goba meteorite

The largest intact meteorite in the world is the Goba meteorite: it is located in Namibia and is a block weighing about 60 tons. The surface of the meteorite is iron without any impurities.


Only dinosaurs could have observed Goba's fall to Earth: it fell on our planet in prehistoric times and was buried underground for a long time, until in 1920 it was discovered by a local farmer while plowing a field.


Now the site has been given the status of a national monument, and anyone can see it for a small fee. It is believed that when it fell it weighed 90 tons.

Allende meteorite

The meteorite fell to Earth on February 8, 1969 in the Mexican state of Chihuahua - it is considered the largest carbonaceous meteorite on the planet, and at the time of its fall its mass was about five tons.


Today, Allende is the most studied meteorite in the world: its fragments are stored in many museums around the world, and it is notable primarily for the fact that it is the oldest discovered body Solar System, the age of which was accurately established - it is about 4.5 billion years old.

Sikhote-Alin meteorite

On February 12, 1947, a huge block fell in the Ussuri taiga - the event could be observed by residents of the village of Beitsukhe in the Primorsky Territory: as always happens in the case of a meteorite fall, witnesses spoke of a huge fireball, the appearance and explosion of which was followed by a rain of iron fragments, fell over an area of ​​35 km².


The meteorite did not cause significant damage, but it made a number of craters in the ground, one of which was six meters deep. It is assumed that the mass of the meteorite at the time it entered the Earth's atmosphere ranged from 60 to 100 tons: the largest fragment found weighs 23 tons and is considered one of the ten largest meteorites in the world.

Tunguska meteorite

On June 17, 1908, at seven o'clock local time, an air explosion with a power of about 50 megatons occurred in the area of ​​the Podkamennaya Tunguska River - this power corresponds to the explosion of a hydrogen bomb.


The explosion and subsequent blast wave were recorded by observatories around the world, huge trees on an area of ​​2000 km² from the supposed epicenter, they were uprooted, and not a single intact glass was left in the houses of residents. After this, for several more days the sky and clouds in this area glowed, including at night.

Every day, up to 6 tons of meteorites fall to the Earth: some of them cause serious damage, others scatter in the atmosphere. The meteorite catalog contains about 23 thousand objects. We will highlight the most curious space aliens.

Officially, the oldest meteorite to reach the Earth's surface is considered space object, discovered on Mount Huashitai near the Chinese city of Xi'an. According to scientists, it fell to Earth about 2 billion years ago. It is interesting that the residents of these places ancient times Mount Huashitai was revered as sacred.

This meteorite can also be called the largest. Chinese scientists estimated the dimensions of the celestial giant - 160x50x60 meters, with a weight of almost 200 tons. To get to the core of the meteorite, scientists had to drill a hole 50 meters long.

Today, China's first meteorite park has opened at the crash site, where visitors can increase their knowledge of unusual celestial aliens.

The most “iron”

In 1920, in what is now Namibia, farmer Jacob Hermanus, plowing the ground, came across a huge block of stone - he did not know that he had discovered a meteorite. The heavenly guest was named after the nearby Hoba West Farm. The meteorite mainly consists of iron, due to which, despite its rather modest size - a diameter of 2.5 meters and a volume of 9 cubic meters. meters - its weight reaches 6 tons.

According to scientists, the meteorite fell about 80 thousand years ago. It is curious that it left a crater that was too small for its size, but most likely, according to scientists, the object had a small angle of incidence, and before colliding with the surface of the Earth, it greatly slowed down its speed. The possibility of such a fall is confirmed by the shape of the celestial body - it is flat on both sides.

Since the meteorite became a tourist attraction, according to experts, it has lost at least 6 tons - the result of vandals who are all trying to break off a piece for themselves as a souvenir. In order to somehow prevent the theft of the meteorite for souvenirs, local authorities declared it a national monument in 1955.

The most mysterious

The disaster that occurred on June 30, 1908 in the sky over Siberia in the Podkamennaya Tunguska region is associated with the fall of a meteorite. The explosion, which occurred at an altitude of approximately 5-10 kilometers, was so powerful that it was recorded by observatories around the world. According to scientists, the power of the explosion was 40-50 kilotons - this corresponds to the power of a hydrogen bomb.

The blast wave felled a forest within a radius of 40 kilometers, and streams of flammable gases provoked a severe fire. Due to the clouds formed after the passage of the celestial body on the line from the Southern Yenisei to the French city of Bordeaux, the effect of “bright nights” could be observed for several days. This phenomenon became possible due to the intense reflection of solar rays by clouds.

Disaster site Tunguska meteorite visited several research expeditions, but no fragments were discovered that clearly belonged to the celestial body, with the exception of microscopic silicate and magnetite balls, which are attributed to extraterrestrial origin. A number of other finds at the site of the disaster - conical holes in the ground and quartz cobblestones with mysterious signs - have so far baffled scientists.

Largest meteor shower

In March 1976, residents of the Chinese province of Jilin were literally hit by “stone rain” that lasted more than half an hour. However, despite the intensity of the meteorite bombardment, there was no information about the damage caused.

Scientists have found that the speed of the meteorite shower was approximately 12 km/sec, and the weight of its fragments reached 12.5 kg. Later, the largest of the objects was discovered - a 1.7-ton meteorite named Girin.

As a rule, meteorite showers are possible when a larger meteorite is destroyed due to severe overheating in the upper atmosphere. This is evidenced by the testimony of eyewitnesses who reported a strong cannonade of explosions before the fall of the stones.

The most unusual

In 1980, a seemingly unremarkable fist-sized meteorite fell onto the territory of a Soviet military base near the town of Kaidun in Yemen, if not for one circumstance: it was not like any of the meteorites found so far. According to an employee of the Institute of Geochemistry named after. Vernadsky Andrei Ivanov, this two-kilogram meteorite most likely flew to us from Phobos, the satellite of Mars.

Studies using an electron microscope have shown that the body of the space guest consists of substances completely different both in origin and in chemical properties, it also contained fragments of volcanic rocks and high carbon content.

American scientist Michael Zolensky suggests that carbonaceous substances are a consequence of Phobos’s “asteroid past,” and volcanic fragments fell onto the meteorite from Mars.

The most "alive"

The meteorite that fell in 1969 near the Australian town of Murchison does not have any special dimensions - 108 kilograms, but it is known for having more than 14 thousand. organic compounds, including about 70 amino acids. True, real debate arose about the latter, since some scientists believed that some amino acids entered the celestial body from earthly soil.

The debate continued for 27 years until American scientists conducted a decisive experiment, during which they proved that the ratio organic matter in a meteorite “differs from that characteristic of all terrestrial objects.” The Murchison meteorite is of interest primarily to those who believe that life on Earth occurred due to the introduction of organic compounds from space.

The largest accumulation of meteorites

The ice shell of Antarctica is an ideal place for discovering the remains of celestial bodies, since its white surface does not allow anything to escape the gaze of researchers. Scientists have calculated that approximately 700 thousand meteorites are scattered on the surface of the continent - real “deposits” of stellar matter can be found here. In places with the greatest concentration of space objects, according to scientists, “meteorites are literally lying under your feet.”

TASS DOSSIER. On December 6, 2016, a meteorite exploded in the sky over Khakassia. Three flashes were recorded, the hum was heard in the Abakan area.

As stated by Viktor Grokhovsky, a member of the Committee on Meteorites of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor at the Ural Federal University, the meteorite is several times smaller than its Chelyabinsk “brother” that fell into Lake Chebarkul in February 2013.

Meteorites are solid natural bodies of cosmic origin that fall onto the surface of a large celestial object, for example, planets. They can consist of minerals (stone meteorites), metals (iron) and be of a mixed type (iron-stone).

The Earth's surface reaches 9% of the mass of all meteorites. According to a number of scientists, a meteorite squall with a total mass of approximately 21.3 tons hits our planet every year. According to statistics, only one out of 100 thousand meteorites has destructive power. Most of the meteorites found on Earth have a mass from a few grams to several kilograms.

Most often, meteorites fall in Antarctica: according to experts, about 700 thousand of them are scattered on the mainland. The largest accumulation of meteorites on a limited surface area, discovered in 1979, is also located there. The most massive meteorite - weighing more than 60 tons - was found in Namibia in 1920 g., it received the name Goba.

Cases of meteorites falling on settlements extremely rare: only a few such facts are known. Moreover, only twice did falling celestial bodies injure people (1954, Alabama, USA; 2004, UK).

The first reliably recorded meteorite fall in world history dates back to November 16, 1492. This happened near the French village of Ensisheim in the Upper Rhine region. The stone that fell from the sky weighed about 127 kg. His fall was witnessed by numerous eyewitnesses, including the famous German artist and graphic artist Albrecht Durer. He sketched this event on a small wooden board measuring 23x17 cm.

Chronology of five known cases of large meteorite falls in the 20th - 21st centuries

June 30, 1908 over the river basin. Podkamennaya Tunguska in Eastern Siberia A meteorite fell, which later received the name "Tunguska". As a result, in the air, when the celestial body entered the dense layers of the atmosphere, an explosion with a power of about 50 Mt in TNT equivalent occurred. The shock wave devastated up to 2 thousand square meters. km. To date, over 5 thousand fairly large fragments of the Tunguska meteorite have been found.

On February 12, 1947, a meteorite weighing more than 23 tons (one of the ten largest in the world) was recorded in the Primorsky Territory. It was named Sikhote-Alin after the name of the mountains over which the meteorite scattered iron rain over an area of ​​35 square meters. km.

On March 8, 1976, a meteorite weighing over 4 tons fell in northeast China. It was named Kirin.

On February 8, 1969, the Allende meteorite fell in northern Mexico. When it fell, it shattered into many fragments. About 2-3 tons of fragments were collected. Allende is considered the largest carbonaceous meteorite found on Earth.

February 15, 2013 in the area of ​​Lake Chebarkul Chelyabinsk region a meteorite fell and received official name"Chelyabinsk" (also known as "Chebarkulsky"). The meteor shower was observed by residents of five regions of Russia at once - Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan regions and Bashkiria. Most of the fragments fell into the lake. In October 2013, fragments with a total mass of 654 kg were recovered from Chebarkul; in March 2014, the largest fragment weighing several tons was found at the bottom of the lake.

Last year, astronomers predicted more than once or twice that a celestial body would fall to Earth. In February, the American agency NASA predicted that a giant asteroid would fall to Earth. It was assumed that it would fall into the ocean and cause a supertsunami.

It was also indicated that this would happen near Great Britain, as a result of which the coastal residents were quite agitated. It was assumed, but no one can ever say anything about this for sure. Because a celestial body can either pass by our planet or still fall on it.

When will a meteorite fall on Earth in 2018: to date, assumptions about asteroids falling on Earth, fortunately, have not come true

In February it happened - a meteorite flew past and NASA’s assumptions, fortunately, did not come true.

Then they began to scare earthlings in March, then an asteroid hundreds of times larger than Chelyabinsk was supposed to land on Europe - that too. Then - in October, TS4 40 meters in diameter, the fall of which was supposed to leave a trace in the form of a huge crater - again lucky, it didn’t fall.

Astronomers usually have approximate data - both on the size and on the trajectory of the celestial body. After all, asteroids glow during flight, and therefore it is quite difficult to accurately determine their size. Moreover, once in the Earth’s atmosphere, the mass will be less due to the partial combustion of the space guest in it.

Fortunately, today, all celestial bodies that threatened Mother Earth either flew at a distance from her, or burned up in the layers of the atmosphere and turned into a safe meteor shower, which is a meteor shower and does not threaten earthlings in any way.

This was the case at the end of 2017, when astronomers were frightened by the approach of a meteorite threatening to fall on Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan or Samara. In February 2013, both the Chelyabinsk guest from space and the Yekaterinburg guest had approximately the same trajectory - the celestial bodies seem to like this route.

Fortunately, not all of them fall to Earth; most often, they pass tangentially to our planet and do not cause any harm. All celestial bodies migrating in the Universe are carefully observed in different parts of the Earth by astronomers and astrophysicists. After all, it is possible that the orbit of this or that meteorite will change for some reason and then it may well become a dangerous guest for our planet.

When a meteorite falls on Earth in 2018: scientists are closely monitoring the trajectory of the giant asteroid

This difficult issue remains relevant this year. Judging by the starfall calendar, 2018 is no safer than last year - the likelihood of meteorites falling to Earth remains just as high. But scientists will be able to say anything for sure about the fall of a cosmic body only after it enters the earth’s atmosphere, disintegrating into a meteor shower. Until then, scientists can only guess which of the asteroids may be dangerous for earthlings.

For example, the meteorite that successfully missed the Earth at the end of 2017 is flying towards it again - it changed its orbit, colliding with another meteorite flying near the Moon. Now its flight path is oriented directly towards the Earth. But no one can say for sure how the journey of this space guest will end.

Here is a video confirming that a meteorite may fall to Earth in 2018:

Time will tell when this may happen. If it ends up in the Earth’s atmosphere, it may burn up, perhaps it will disintegrate into meteor showers. Perhaps TV 145 also threatens the Earth - scientists are closely monitoring this giant asteroid, which has already flown quite close to the Earth.