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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Panic Russia Hit by Meteorite Fragments

Posted by on Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 10:41 PM

BBC:

Brightly burning rocks could be seen for hundreds of kilometres as they crashed into the Ural region.

Chelyabinsk residents reported the ground shook, windows shattered and car alarms were set off during the shower.

"A meteorite exploded above the Chelyabinsk region," an emergencies ministry spokesman told Interfax, while one report spoke of several injuries.


Right out of the sky...

Does this have anything to do with the asteroid that's not supposed to hit us? You can check out more videos here.

Update: Phil Plait at Slate says asteroid and Russian meteor shower appear to be unrelated.

I’m trying to piece together what happened from the videos. First of all, I do not think this is related in any way to the asteroid 2102 DA14! For one thing, this occurred about 16 hours before DA14 passes. At 8 kilometers per second that’s nearly half a million kilometers away from DA14. That puts it on a totally different orbit.

For another, from the lighting, time of day, and videos showing the rising Sun, it looks like this was moving mostly east-to-west. I may be off, but that’s how it looks. DA14 is approaching Earth from the south, so any fragment of that rock would also appear to move south-to-north.

 

Comments (17) RSS

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Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 1
Wow, that beats a truck jackknifing on ice and wiping out a motorcycle.

Meteor Win!
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com on February 14, 2013 at 11:25 PM
2
If only Russia had a second amendment.
Posted by seatackled on February 14, 2013 at 11:26 PM
mackro 3
This is one of the most fascinating things I've seen in my life, no fucking joke. The spectacle too. The fact that EVERYONE beat the major news media to this.

Also this occurred just hours before a not-as-close asteroid is supposd to pass us by (DA14 2012). The chances of this happening in that time window is literally astronomical.

Hopefully there are no serious injuries from any of this.
Posted by mackro http://mackro.blogspot.com on February 14, 2013 at 11:37 PM
auntie jim 4
Lots of Russians have dash cams it would seem.
Posted by auntie jim on February 14, 2013 at 11:39 PM
mackro 5
Thank you, Russian drivers, for apparently being so bad at driving, that you all need dashcams for insurance purposes, and hence inadvertently set up the ultimate multi-viewpoint capture of this AMAZING THING.
Posted by mackro http://mackro.blogspot.com on February 14, 2013 at 11:45 PM
aureolaborealis 6
Isn't it merely a meteor until it hits the ground?
Posted by aureolaborealis on February 14, 2013 at 11:49 PM
sperifera 7
There's a report out that the Russian Air Force is claiming to have blown it up. As if...
Posted by sperifera on February 15, 2013 at 12:03 AM
8
Russians have dash cams in large part to protect against pedestrians who run in front of/into the side of their cars or smash broken cell phones or laptops against the car and then demand compensation. For some reason the law favors the pedestrian more strongly than it does in the US, plus the police are often in on it. Here's a beautiful compilation:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c12_13499…
Posted by rubus on February 15, 2013 at 2:18 AM
9
@7: Yeah, it sounds like a bullshit claim. Slow meteors enter the atmosphere at over Mach 25. Fast ones enter at over Mach 100. Sure they slow down, but it sounds extraordinarily unlikely that anybody would have a chance to target them.
Posted by delirian on February 15, 2013 at 2:25 AM
Michael of the Green 10
Did the guys in the car not SEE the fireball hurtling across the sky? If i spoke russian, I would imagine they're discussing laundry. Have to commend them, though, for hardly even swerving or putting on brakes while the world is ending before their very eyes.
Posted by Michael of the Green on February 15, 2013 at 2:44 AM
Theodore Gorath 11
The question: is this event more or less scary than the spiders in brazil?
Posted by Theodore Gorath on February 15, 2013 at 4:59 AM
Matt from Denver 12
@ 10, given how fucked up driving in Russia appears to be, paying 100% of your attention to the road seems advisable. No matter WHAT else is going on.
Posted by Matt from Denver on February 15, 2013 at 5:31 AM
13
Apparently it did apparently hit the ground:

Debris also reportedly fell on the west Siberian region of Tyumen.

Governor Yurevich reported that the meteor had landed in a lake 1km outside Chebarkul, which has a population of 46,000.

A Russian army spokesman said a crater 6m (20ft) wide had been found on the shore of the lake.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-2…
Posted by tiktok on February 15, 2013 at 7:54 AM
14
U guys act like its funny that a meteor struck russia.Its not joke material for everyone to pick at russia.
Posted by G Rob on February 15, 2013 at 8:34 AM
Will in Seattle 15
If only Russia had an ABM system, as their treaty permits.
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on February 15, 2013 at 10:46 AM
16
@15: Even a railgun (Mach 7) would be too slow. Preliminary reports indicate that the meteor entered the atmosphere at 30 km/s (Mach 88).
Posted by delirian on February 15, 2013 at 11:22 AM
Fnarf 17
I find the story and link @8 to be even more remarkable than the meteor.
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on February 15, 2013 at 3:54 PM

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