In a
recent study, scientists discovered the source of meteor which struck
the Russian city of Chelyabinsk earlier this year and have detected
about 20 more such types of gigantic meteors which could pose a possible
threat for the planet in the near future.
The powerful meteor strike had left around 1,000 people
injured and made a humongous impact which fared greater than the
intensity of the 30 nuclear bombs that stuck Hiroshima.
The recent study has discovered the original path of the
meteor and names it a part of the perilous asteroid clan as 2011 EO40.
The study said the Chelyabinsk meteors were a part of the same group before
it disintegrated into pieces, either owing to gravitational pulls from
planets or the Sun's high temperatures. The scientists, after studying
about orbits of various asteroids and billions of possible computations
with the aid of NASA data, found out 20 of such asteroids in the the E040 clan which can possibly collide with Earth.
The asteroids estimated on the collision course are said be of varied
sizes with some even twice bigger than those which stuck Earth. The
biggest asteroids in the E040 are about 200 metres. The Chelyabinsk
meteor which stuck the planet was the size of a house and weighed around
11,000 tonnes.
The next asteroid proximity to Earth is expected in the year 2025.
The study headed by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos with his
colleagues from the Complutense University in Madrid has been published
in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/lf7m6bm
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20 More Chelyabinsk-Like Meteors Headed for Earth?
Written By Unknown on August 14, 2013 | 8/14/2013
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