Meteorite With The Power Of A Nuclear Bomb Lights The Skies In Australia
A meteorite amazed people in Australia when it lighted the skies on Tuesday. Social media became flooded with mind-blowing videos of the fireball painting the night skies in South Australia.
The Daily Star notes that there was a particularly amazing video that has been filmed from above the Royal Adelaide Hospital and it shows that the meteorite was exploding in the background of a helipad.
After the rock enters the sky, it beams light green before it turns orange.
The online publication mentioned above notes that Professor Phil Bland from Curtin University has now revealed the terrifying power of the meteorite and it’s not something to joke about.
He said that “the energy deposited in our atmosphere when the thing exploded, 1.6 kilotons” was impressive.”
“That’s very high,” he added.
He continued and said that “It’s in the range of a small nuclear weapon. Because it exploded at an altitude of 31.5km it didn’t do any damage.”
According to some data gathered from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies in California, it seems that the fireball entered the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of 27,400mph.
The space rock was the size of a smaller car and it broke up as soon as it entered our atmosphere.
“You wouldn’t want it to land on your head,” he said. “But these wouldn’t really do any damage on the ground,” NASA aerospace space engineer Dr. Steve Chesley stated.
A spectacular light show and a loud sonic boom
He reportedly continued and said that “What the folks there along the coast of South Australia saw was a spectacular light show, probably a very loud sonic boom that would rattle the windows, this wasn’t big enough to break windows I expect, and then just small pebbles falling to the Earth and not at hypersonic velocities, they slow down very quickly.”
The online publication also notes that when the meteor had reached the altitude of 31.5 km, it was traveling at a speed of 11.5 km per second and that’s the moment when it hit the peak of its brightness. It also has a calculated impact energy of 1.6 km over the water.
The Daily Star also makes a comparison, pointing out at the fact that the nuclear bomb that exploded over Hiroshima was 15 km.
I have been blogging and posting articles for over eight years, but my passion for writing dates back in 2000. I am especially enthusiastic about technology, science, and health-related issues. When I’m not researching and writing the latest news, I’m either watching sci-fi and horror movies or checking out places worth visiting and building deep memories for later in life. I believe in empathy and continually improving myself.
0 comments