February 2013 was the month of the Chelyabinsk meteor. A colossal air-burst that caused havoc on the ground. Prof. Iain Stewart investigates.
The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk is a spectacular reminder of just how exposed our world is. You know Earth is just this tiny planet in a vast, vast violent cosmos.
The Yarkovsky Effect is a tiny acceleration exerted on asteroids by the sun, causing changes in their orbits over millions of years.
Mark Boslough “Small asteroids are more dangerous than we used to think because there are so many more smaller asteroids than bigger asteroids, we need to take that risk more seriously than we used to.”
There are over 900 asteroids, bigger than a kilometre. An impact from one of these would spell disaster for Earth. Near-Earth Asteroids are a constant fear.
When you consider Earth’s history stretching over billions of years, it’s clear that the meteor impacts far from being unexpected are just a normal part of the life cycle of our planet.
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