Science

Judi Lynn

(160,682 posts) Sun Jan 6, 2019, 05:14 AM Jan 2019

The meteor shower that brought Tunguska is due in June

That disastrous rock may now looks to have been a Beta Taurid passenger
ROBBY BERMAN
05 January, 2019

Analysis of the Tunguska tree-fall patters suggests a familiar source for the asteroid that caused it

Its timing also fits perfectly with a late June annual meteor shower

Nonetheless, it's more interesting than dangerous. Put down that helmet.

It's just after seven in the morning on June 30, 1908 as a man sits on the front porch of a trading post in Vanavara, Siberia. That is, until a sudden blast of heat at 7:17 hurls him from his seat. It comes from a huge asteroid exploding about 28,000 feet above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River 40 miles away.

"Suddenly in the north sky… the sky was split in two, and high above the forest the whole northern part of the sky appeared covered with fire… At that moment there was a bang in the sky and a mighty crash… The crash was followed by a noise like stones falling from the sky, or of guns firing. The earth trembled."

Such asteroids are not that rare — scientists estimate they happen about every 300 years. There was one over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, and though smaller at 11,000 tons than the Tunguska rock, it nonetheless injured 1,200 people and caused damage to buildings up to 58 miles away.

More:
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/tunguska-beta-taurid?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2