Asteroid hit Ural Mountain

[Tyro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 So I guess the lesson is if you see a flash brighter than the sun: duck and cover.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is, upon seeing a brilliant flash of a nuclear blast brighter than the sun, the correct procedure is to:
1. Clasp your hands behind your head, interlocking your fingers,
2. Bend over and place your head firmly between your knees, and
3. Kiss your *** goodbye.

But it's been many years since I've seen that civil defense poster...

[GalaxyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I think it took 3 minutes for the shock waves to arrive after the flash.

I saw a clip on one of the news networks where they dubbed the sound of the shock wave over a clip of the fire ball. Another case of dumbing down the news for the masses. Drove me crazy!

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyro Correct me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is, upon seeing a brilliant flash of a nuclear blast brighter than the sun, the correct procedure is to: 1. Clasp your hands behind your head, interlocking your fingers, 2. Bend over and place your head firmly between your knees, and 3. Kiss your *** goodbye. But it's been many years since I've seen that civil defense poster...

They might have sprained something in the attempt, but it probably would have saved them from flying glass.

[NW-Bound]

A shock wave can travel faster than the speed of sound, but if we just assume the latter, then a 3-minute delay means a distance of 3 x 60 x 1100 ft/s = 198,000 ft or 38 miles.

Indeed, it is estimated that the air burst might be 15 miles above ground, so a 38-mile slant range was reasonable. Yet, the shock wave was powerful after traveling that distance.

They have also revised the estimated size of the meteor to 55 ft, and with a weight of 10,000 tons. Still, it was far smaller than what they can track, meaning they could not see it coming.

Here's what's even scarier! It is estimated that there are 25 million asteroids with a diameter greater than 300 ft, which is a lot larger than this recent meteor. How many of these asteroids are orbiting near the Earth, I could not find out.