Asteroid buzzes by Earth hours after meteor rocks Russia

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As I mentioned that this happened on the very same day that an asteroid -- by earth what scientists say could be the closest you ever fly by our planet in our lifetime.

It just happened within the past hour.

People saying at NASA though the -- right in Russia had nothing to do with the asteroid which is about the size.

A half a football field joining me now is astronomer David Dunn dean.

With tell -- science museum in Carter's little Georgia.

And David the big question now as I've just answered there was nothing to do with these two things what is more common than the other.

Media writes it in the sky of Russia coming down how rare is that.

Well meteorite impacts.

Happen all the time the earth picks up.

Tons of media -- debris every day.

But it's usually in the form of dust since much smaller objects.

One the size and what we saw on Russia.

Is a once in a decade kind of thing.

Last time out this happening was about ten years ago.

Over in in the Pakistan India.

Region of the of the world.

But the two objects are totally and related and one of the other.

Big things to consider is that you're separating the two events by about fourteen hours.

And remember the earth is -- around the sun at about nineteen miles per second.

So -- that fourteen hours were really in a quite different neighborhood that we -- when the meteor came in in Russia.

Well that's interesting way of looking and it's -- everything's moving all at once by the way how fast -- this thing going before it appear.

Well -- -- top speed of the meteor was about 33000 miles per hour.

It -- about ten tons and that's the reason by the way you have this dramatic pictures.

Of this object coming in because.

Now -- you have an object hurtling at 33000 miles per hour it hits the the Earth's atmosphere.

It's analogous to a high diver making a belly flop into a swing pool.

Now imagined that this former is going 33000 miles an hour hitting that wall of water.

The same thing happened with that -- and now it's the seller ratings to the the this speed is getting much less and that -- he's got to go somewhere.

So goes -- to two primary places one.

It goes into heating up the column of air around the object so that's that bright streak that you -- the -- column -- there.

Being very hot around the -- The other is in shock -- -- -- sonic boom that people heard.

And -- the wave of of us shot through the atmosphere that blew out all those windows.

And that that's what happened even before any of the little objects.

Went from being meteors and hitting the ground a big pain meteorites and you know you you talk about that.

Explosion and we show people the concussion and that the force of that throwing people back you were at the windows why did it explode.

Normally most meteors that coming in are are not totally metallic there stony meteors.

And so they wouldn't be totally stable coming to the Earth's atmosphere -- -- transmitting a huge amount of energy.

The atmosphere this thing just couldn't hang together it just fell apart.

In the atmosphere releasing.

All of that energy it's interesting to note that back on February 12.

1947.

Very similar event happened.

In Russia.

And in fact -- Freddie stamp collectors out there and literature stamp postage stamps from Russia from 1958.

At 57 actually to commemorate that event and that postage stamp that color postage stamp looks almost exactly like from that painting.

From that image from this morning.

And and we have an image from one of the former impacts in Russia on -- screen it wasn't the one that you were speaking of it was an earlier one real quickly before I let you go.

Jane you -- of the date on that one back in the 1940s -- February 12 that's the fifteenth now I know you scientists keep telling us.

It's just a coincidence -- it but what goes this is actually a -- Valentine's Day maybe.

That's -- up at the cupid had nothing to do with it honestly.

It's it it's just a coincidence.

That's all right all around the -- -- David Andy thank you very much appreciate it.

Thank you.

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Asteroid buzzes by Earth hours after meteor rocks Russia

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