How big was the asteroid that hit Tunguska?
The exploding meteoroid was determined to have been an asteroid that measured about 17–20 metres (56–66 ft) across. It had an estimated initial mass of 11,000 tonnes and exploded with an energy release of approximately 500 kilotons.
What caused the Tunguska explosion in 1908?
In the early morning of June 30, 1908, a massive explosion flattened entire forests in a remote region of Eastern Siberia along the Tunguska River. Khrennikov and co say the explosion was caused by an asteroid that grazed the Earth, entering the atmosphere at a shallow angle and then passing out again into space.
What really happened in Tunguska?
Tunguska event, enormous explosion that is estimated to have occurred at 7:14 am plus or minus one minute on June 30, 1908, at an altitude of 5–10 km (15,000–30,000 feet), flattening some 2,000 square km (500,000 acres) and charring more than 100 square km of pine forest near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in central …
Was Tunguska a nuclear explosion?
The Tunguska space body flew at a low velocity and exploded due to the internal energy of its substance, not due to the energy of motion. Its explosion had a high concentration of energy, approaching that of a nuclear explosion. Also, it was accompanied by ionizing radiation and radioactive fallout.
How often does a Tunguska event occur?
every 100 to 1,000 years
Using the age of fossil craters of large impacts and historical accounts of small meteors, scientists extrapolated the missing data for medium-sized impacts. Based on such estimates, a Tunguska-like event happens every 100 to 1,000 years.
When did the last big asteroid hit Earth?
66 million years ago
The last known impact of an object of 10 km (6 mi) or more in diameter was at the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago.
Can Tunguska happen again?
Large-scale impacts are rare, estimated to occur no more frequently than once every 100,000 years. Tunguska-like events are estimated to occur once every 200-1,000 years and it is not at all unlikely that another such event could soon occur again.