A meteorite contrail is seen over Chelyabinsk this morning. (AP Photo/Chelyabinsk.ru)
What is believed to be a meteorite streaked through the sky over Russia's Urals region early Friday morning before exploding in a flash, damaging buildings, and reportedly injuring more than 500 peopleclose to 900, with 270 buildings (including schools and hospitals) sustaining damage. A quick lesson: meteorites hit earth, whereas meteors burn out in the sky—and Russian officials say three large pieces of meteorite debris have already been found.
According to the NY Times, the governor of the Chelyabinsk district [map] claims to have already found the impact site (note: many are posting a video showing the "Door to Hell" claiming it is this meteorite's impact site—that is not true!). However, other government experts are saying it was a bolide, "a type of fireball meteor that explodes in the earth’s atmosphere." [Update below: NASA agrees with the exploding fireball theory.] This should be cleared up as the day goes one, meanwhile, the response from the Russian Emergency Ministry has been sweeping: they've deployed several airplanes; 10,000 police officers; and 20,000 people to comb the area.
The object's approach, as well as the explosion, was caught on film by many:
Most of those injured were hurt by the breaking glass during the explosion and sustained minor injuries—one witness told the Times, “I saw a flash in the window, turned toward it and saw a burning cloud, which was surrounded by smoke and was going downward—it reminded me of what you see after an explosion."
Another described this scene: "I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend. Then there was a flash and I saw a trail of smoke across the sky and felt a shockwave that smashed windows."
UPDATE: Don Yeomans, head of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, also believes this was a bolide, saying, "I would think that this is likely an exploding fireball (or bolide) event caused by the atmospheric impact of a small asteroid. If the reports of ground damage can be verified, it might suggest an object whose original size was several meters in extent before entering the atmosphere, fragmenting and exploding due to the unequal pressure on the leading side vs. the trailing side."
