So what happened on June 30, 1908, in Tunguska?
Many theories have arisen over the years as to what could have caused such a fireball across the sky - a meteorite or comet, a nuclear explosion, or it could it be a black hole or an alien spacecraft?
It took scientists more than 19 years after the event to investigate the Tunguska site due to its remote and difficult to reach location. And once an expedition of scientists came to the site in 1927 for the first time, the locals of Tunguska refused to talk about it at first, believing it to be a visitation by the god Ogdy, who had cursed the area by smashing trees and killing animals.
It is now widely believed that on the morning of June 30, 1908, a large space rock, about 36 metres in diameter, entered the earth’s atmosphere above Siberia and exploded. It is estimated the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere travelling at a speed of about 53,913 kilometres per hour. During its quick plunge, the 99790 tonne space rock heated the air surrounding it to 24704 degrees Celsius. At a height of about 8.5 kilometres, the combination of pressure and heat caused the asteroid to fragment and annihilate itself, producing a fireball and releasing energy equivalent to about 185 Hiroshima bombs. This air burst was the reason, it is speculated, that no crater was found at the site –such as the one in Arizona. However it is believed that a shallow impact crater can now be seen at the epicenter of the explosion site
The conclusion is also supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later. The researchers contend that the massive amount of water vapour spewed into the atmosphere by the comet's icy nucleus was caught up in swirling eddies with tremendous energy by a process called two-dimensional turbulence, which explains why the noctilucent clouds formed a day later many thousands of miles away. The space shuttle exhaust plume, the researchers say, resembled the comet's action.
At the time of the Tunguska event, 80 million trees were toppled and more than a thousand reindeer died... and miraculously no human casualties. Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight.
Researchers believe that a meteor of this size will enter the earth’s atmosphere every 300 years....
It is now widely believed that on the morning of June 30, 1908, a large space rock, about 36 metres in diameter, entered the earth’s atmosphere above Siberia and exploded. It is estimated the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere travelling at a speed of about 53,913 kilometres per hour. During its quick plunge, the 99790 tonne space rock heated the air surrounding it to 24704 degrees Celsius. At a height of about 8.5 kilometres, the combination of pressure and heat caused the asteroid to fragment and annihilate itself, producing a fireball and releasing energy equivalent to about 185 Hiroshima bombs. This air burst was the reason, it is speculated, that no crater was found at the site –such as the one in Arizona. However it is believed that a shallow impact crater can now be seen at the epicenter of the explosion site
The conclusion is also supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later. The researchers contend that the massive amount of water vapour spewed into the atmosphere by the comet's icy nucleus was caught up in swirling eddies with tremendous energy by a process called two-dimensional turbulence, which explains why the noctilucent clouds formed a day later many thousands of miles away. The space shuttle exhaust plume, the researchers say, resembled the comet's action.
At the time of the Tunguska event, 80 million trees were toppled and more than a thousand reindeer died... and miraculously no human casualties. Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight.
Researchers believe that a meteor of this size will enter the earth’s atmosphere every 300 years....
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