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Russian meteor shower

48 comments

A few more links to supplement BoltA’s report. You get more at the Cat even if you don’t get it first.

News report with map and commentary.

Indoor scenes.

Outside.

A bit of history and perspective, a heap of other meteors.

Written by Poor Old Rafe

February 16th, 2013 at 9:41 am

Posted in Rafe

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48 Responses to 'Russian meteor shower'

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  1. So how long until some imbecile attributes this event to gerbil worming?

    Oh, wait…

    Rabz

    16 Feb 13 at 10:38 am

  2. or we get a space tax…

    Rousie

    16 Feb 13 at 10:49 am

  3. And I think it raises the question about the role that Tony Abbott’s playing.

    Gab

    16 Feb 13 at 10:52 am

  4. Meteorites – the greatest moral challenge of our time…

    Rabz

    16 Feb 13 at 10:53 am

  5. Has King Obamaccles speeched or acted or deployed on this tragedy yet?

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    16 Feb 13 at 10:59 am

  6. Fuck me, AGW causes meteorites.

    High, low, scientist, non-scientist, politican or not, every dickhead who believes in AGW checks their brains at the door; assuming they have a brain to begin with.

    AGW, the cause for idiots.

    cohenite

    16 Feb 13 at 11:33 am

  7. “You get more at the Cat even if you don’t get it first.”

    Cupla days…..beautiful!

    The Old and Unimproved Dave

    16 Feb 13 at 11:33 am

  8. already has a wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Russian_meteor_shower

    The Chelyabinsk meteor is the largest recorded object to have encountered the Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event and the 1947 Sikhote-Alin event, and the only known such event to result in a large number of casualties

    Jim Rose

    16 Feb 13 at 11:37 am

  9. It’s the end for Bolt and Monckton now. video evidence of the effects of manmade global warming trumps his stupid graphs now. Ther have been more people hurt by globalwarming meteroites in the last 16 years than anytime since the Europeans invaded the otherwise pristine environment of Europe.

    Whalehunt Fun

    16 Feb 13 at 11:45 am

  10. “Poor Old Rafe”

    Thanks, a great find Russia Today TV site http://rt.com/

    Good to get a different view on the world

    Old Ozzie

    OldOzzie

    16 Feb 13 at 11:56 am

  11. Note the trajectory of the meteorite – essentially parallel to the earth’s surface. Cell phones stopped working – the result of electromagnetic interference. The break up cannot be due to the object striking the very thin earth atmosphere at that height. Instead it exploded as a result of encountering the ionosphere and reacting electrically – a massive short circuit between the body and the earth.

    And such objects also do not form perfectly circular impact craters either.

    Such an occurrence and even more over a long period of time was observed and documented by the Koreans during the Choson Dynasty – that meteorite occurrence terminated the MWP and caused the Little Ice Age, a climate catastrophe which the earth is still recovering from.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 11:58 am

  12. Thanks, a great find Russia Today TV site http://rt.com/

    It’s a funny old world, where you have to look to Russia to find a voice of freedom!

    Plato Sandilands

    16 Feb 13 at 12:12 pm

  13. Such an occurrence and even more over a long period of time was observed and documented by the Koreans during the Choson Dynasty – that meteorite occurrence terminated the MWP and caused the Little Ice Age, a climate catastrophe which the earth is still recovering from.

    That’s worth an article Louis; especially since even the IPCC and others note a correlation between solar and temp since the MWP.

    cohenite

    16 Feb 13 at 12:37 pm

  14. Cohenite,

    It’s quite an interesting topic because I have a sneaking suspicion the earth’s orientation might have also been altered by that event, a slight careening on its old axis to the present one, moving Greenland and England from temperature latitudes to the existing one. Not by plate tectonics but changing the axis of spin slightly. That’s how you can get climate change without altering the global temperature at all.

    Remember that around that time the calerdars were causing problems and the Chinese had embarked on a global surveying operation to establish new navigational benchmarks.

    An oddity was an anecdote the biologist Lyall Watson recounted in one of his books – that the medieval merchant seamen used Venus as a broad daylight navigational aid. Remember that James Cook was sent by the Admiralty to observe the transit of Venus.

    Remember the collapse of the circum-pacific civilisations at the time – it was a global catastrophe most of the destruction occurring in the Pacific region and hence probably the reason that the Chinese Ming Dynasty collapsed, allowing the Europeans to gain ascendancy to fill the vacuum created by the Chinese.

    It’s research that the privately funded scholar could do because mainstream science won’t touch it – causes problems for too many sacred cows.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 1:01 pm

  15. I agree Louis; this old Earth and the near space dynamics will throw up a few surprises which humanity, bedazzled like witless rabbits in the glare of the lights of AGW, will be ill prepared for because all the money and effort has been sucked up by AGW.

    Here is an interesting chart comparing the climatic effect of different sized asteroids.

    You really can’t hope for any sanity to enter this debate given the implacable stupidity of AGW believers like the bimbo in the link Rabz provided.

    cohenite

    16 Feb 13 at 1:22 pm

  16. Interesting chart but it’s all standard theory stuff – mechanical Newton system that is now being challenged by the plasma theories. I’m holding off publishing anything on this until the SAFIRE experiment is completed – they only received funding for it recently, and it will take about a year or more to go through all the protocols etc. The SAFIRE experiment involves testing the electric sun hypothesis.

    That said my Russian contact, one K. Khazanovitch-Wulff, is involved in more down to earth research for kimberlite generation and the link to meteoric encounters like the one described in this post. If the body is large enough and the interaction is long enough, days maybe, then the physical effects would be quite profound.

    But first we have to remove the intellectual straight-jacket of Lyellian Uniformism from science. NO progress can occur while are still in thrall of that Whiggish paradigm. God have the political left stuffed things up over time.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 1:52 pm

  17. It’s quite an interesting topic because I have a sneaking suspicion the earth’s orientation might have also been altered by that event, a slight careening on its old axis to the present one, moving Greenland and England from temperature latitudes to the existing one

    I doubt it. Earth’s mass is 5.97219 × 10(24) kg. The meteorite that exploded over Russia yesterday was estimated to have a mass of about 10 tonnes. The 1908 meteor that exploded over Tungusta was estimated to be about 600,000 tonnes.

    My layman’s oppinion is that would have to many times larger than that if it were to effect the tilt of the earth on its axis.

    jupes

    16 Feb 13 at 2:00 pm

  18. Via Instapundit: Did Another Space Rock Crash In Cuba?

    According to a translation of two Spanish-language sources, Cubans witnessed a brilliant meteor or meteorite Wednesday… It only took two comments for someone to propose that this is all the result of a secret US weapons program. Which, honestly, would be pretty cool.

    Tabitha N

    16 Feb 13 at 2:01 pm

  19. From that chart above

    Global Greenhouse heating from water and CO2

    Where does the CO2 come from? Or for that matter the water? The immediate effect is cooling because the particles in the atmosphere block sunlight. Cooling should result in less moisture in the air.

    Last updated 2004 when AGW was approaching peak mania.

    Harold

    16 Feb 13 at 2:11 pm

  20. Hang on, hang on, wasn’t Tunguska a Tesla experiment or some such? I think Bird has the details. hehe.

    jumpnmcar

    16 Feb 13 at 2:16 pm

  21. Jupes,

    We are dealing with the physics of plasma, and gravitational forces are basically irrelevant when dealing with these forces. Electrical plasma forces, ie Lorentz force etc, are 10^39 greater in magnitude to the gravitational force, for example. Easy to demonstrate as well – grab a magnet and see how puny gravity is when you lift a steal marble off the table with the toy magnet.

    No problem at all to move the earth slightly on its axis as the result of plasma interaction. CME’s actually affect its rotational velocity.

    In any case the LIA event was not due to a single 10 ton object but a prolonged shower of meteorites, ie the earth might have passed through a swarm of meteorites.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 2:16 pm

  22. No problem at all to move the earth slightly on its axis as the result of plasma interaction. CME’s actually affect its rotational velocity.

    OK. I realise how comparatively weak the gravitational force is compared to the others at the atomic scale. However the more mass an object has, the greater the gravitional force is in comparison to the others. Hence your magnet will lift the ball bearing but not the car.

    The electrical

    jupes

    16 Feb 13 at 2:35 pm

  23. The electrical

    jupes

    16 Feb 13 at 2:36 pm

  24. The real concern over an extended period of time is that we could really be facing end of times if one of these rocks is bigger enough and the one that flew 28K feet is a little too close for comfort.

    The ironic thing is that we’re spending trillions on Global warming when a fraction spent of figuring a way of protecting ourselves from these rocks is extraordinarily important to da future generations.

    Jc

    16 Feb 13 at 2:40 pm

  25. Hands up all those who played with the link and calculated how big a rock it would take to wipe out Canberra without disturbing the rest of Australia?

    Winston SMITH

    16 Feb 13 at 2:43 pm

  26. Jupes,

    Plasma forces are scalable. You should have a look at the computer simulations of the 3-body experiment using only gravitation. The system collapses into a chaotic one very quickly, and in no way can explain our existing solar system dynamics.

    Anthony Peratt of Los Alamo Lab has simulated galaxy physics using only the plasma forces and has successfully modelled most of the observed galaxies. The electrical force is as relevant at the galaxy scale as the atomic and in between as well.

    Accepting this is, however, a rather radical paradigm shift, and may be intellectually frightening for many.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 2:56 pm

  27. Just when you think living in Russia couldn’t get any worse you get hit by a meteor.

    H B Bear

    16 Feb 13 at 2:59 pm

  28. Foe those interested in the plasma effect this 3 parter by Louis is a good introduction.

    cohenite

    16 Feb 13 at 3:12 pm

  29. The fact that a lot of drivers in Russia use dash-cams makes it the centre of unexpected video footage. The recent pictures of the plane overshooting the runway and the meteor are cases in point. It’s a whole sub-genre on YouTube these days.

    brc

    16 Feb 13 at 3:21 pm

  30. You should have a look at the computer simulations of the 3-body experiment using only gravitation.

    Okay. Maybe not right now. Appreciate your advice though. First time I’ve looked at this for a while and there’s a lot of interesting new stuff.

    jupes

    16 Feb 13 at 3:24 pm

  31. Some fascinating stuff on this thread.

    Rabz

    16 Feb 13 at 4:11 pm

  32. The meteorite is a manifestation of the gods’ anger with gillard and goose.

    I am the Walrus, koo koo k'choo

    16 Feb 13 at 5:09 pm

  33. This is a mandate from heaven.

    .

    16 Feb 13 at 5:22 pm

  34. The meteorite is a manifestation of the gods’ anger with gillard and goose.

    :)

    Rabz

    16 Feb 13 at 5:46 pm

  35. How big would a meteor have to be to change the world’s axis?

    Jc

    16 Feb 13 at 5:58 pm

  36. Just imagine all the economic growth and employment created by the thousands and thousands of broken windows! It’s a Keynesian’s wet dream ;)

    Art Vandelay

    16 Feb 13 at 6:12 pm

  37. What we know (subject to change as more information comes in):

    At 9:20 a.m. local time in Russia, videos show an impactor coming in from the North. Asteroid 2012 DA14 is approaching Earth from the South. These two events are not related. The body is estimated to have been 15 meters across and weighed roughly 8000 tons. The resulting airburst would have the equivalent yield of a 500 kiloton explosion. Note that these are very rough and extremely preliminary estimates.

    Based on the long duration of the event and videos, it is clear this was a very shallow entry (certainly less than 20 degrees, maybe more shallow).

    …. the largest recorded event since the 1908 Tunguska explosion….

    Speed: The fireball entered the atmosphere at 18 km/s

    According to NASA, the fact that it broke up in the atmosphere suggests that it was not an iron-nickel asteroid.

    (most likely stone, which the 1908 Tunguska event was thought to be)

    http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2013/20130215-what-we-know-about-the-russian-meteor.html

    Will

    16 Feb 13 at 6:21 pm

  38. JC, I don’t think it could – a single meteorite is too small to achieve that.

    It’s what happened this side of the planet during the end of the Medieval Warm Period and start of the LIA that is of interest. Ted Bryant of Wollongong Uni, has suggested a meteorite impacted the earth between NZ and OZ during MWP-LIA period (16th Century), but again, apart from Aboriginal and Maori accounts, there is little else to add to lessen our ignorance.

    I don’t think a single impact has the kinetic energy to do much, but a warm of those things, associated with a plasma field could.

    One thing I have learnt from my Russian colleague is that near pass meteorite interactions cause a plethora of electromagnetic phenomena, especially affecting electrical transmission lines, wire fences etc., plus weird atmospheric effects.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 7:01 pm

  39. It’s quite an interesting topic because I have a sneaking suspicion the earth’s orientation might have also been altered by that event, a slight careening on its old axis to the present one, moving Greenland and England from temperature latitudes to the existing one

    There appears to have been some cosmic event around 700 BC which did have an impact on the earth. Prior to that time all the calendars from various civilisations were based on a 360 day year.

    Over a 120 year period after 700 BC, all the calendars from the Mayans, Aztecs, Chinese, Hindus, Greeks, Hebrews and Egyptians changed from 360 days per year to the current 365.25 days per annum. The only reminder we have from the pre-700BC period is the retention of 360 degrees in a circle.

    Immanuel Velilovsky has written extensively regarding this event. His research has largely been dismissed by the scientific community (WRT what caused it), but we do have the undisputed change of calendars at the same time all over the world.

    old bloke

    16 Feb 13 at 7:04 pm

  40. The meteorite is a manifestation of the gods’ anger with gillard and goose.

    The Goose is in Russia. The gods must be off their game. Bugger!

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    16 Feb 13 at 7:29 pm

  41. Immanuel Velilovsky has written extensively regarding this event. His research has largely been dismissed by the scientific community

    and quite properly so, Velikovsky is a crank who writes total nonsense.

    Will

    16 Feb 13 at 7:51 pm

  42. How big would a meteor have to be to change the world’s axis?

    depends on speed and direction, as well as mass.

    It is now commonly accepted that the Moon was created early in the history of the solar system when a Mars sized impactor hit the Earth and shattered a substantial mass into orbiting fragments that coalesced into what is now the Moon.

    For something to hit the Earth and move the axis to point somewhere else (like Uranus) would require a substantial hit.

    Will

    16 Feb 13 at 7:57 pm

  43. Mandate from heaven?

    I’ll also add that Gillard is a white-boned devil.

    .

    16 Feb 13 at 7:59 pm

  44. and quite properly so, Velikovsky is a crank who writes total nonsense.

    Will, I don’t support Velikovsy’s theories WRT what event or events occurred around 700 BC which reulted in changed calendars around the world (from 360 to 365.25 days per annum), but I don’t refute his theories either.

    I have no training in astronomy nor astro-physics, so I neither endorse nor refute his theories. Nevertheless, we do have the changed calendars.

    old bloke

    16 Feb 13 at 8:46 pm

  45. Velikovsky is a crank who writes total nonsense

    Not always total nonsense; his book Oedipus and Akhnaton, for instance, though quite, um, idiosyncratic, has a few interesting insights about the possibility of the story of Oedipus and his incest being derived, in part, from Akhenaten and his incest. Modern DNA testing proves that Akhenaten was both father and uncle of Tutankhamun.

    Deadman

    16 Feb 13 at 9:12 pm

  46. The Lake Taupo (NZ) eruption would have made Krakatoa look feeble. I thought that that was what caused the last mini ice age. Blooody Kiwis!

    face ache

    16 Feb 13 at 9:16 pm

  47. Old bloke,

    I’m familiar with Velikovsky’s work but the historical reconstructions remain problematical though I do side with German academic Gunnar Heinsohn’s interpretations based on stratigraphy.

    Velikovsky’s sin was to wonder whether there was another force operating in the cosmos – he was right and its the basis of the physics of the plasma universe IEEE has this as an official area of scientific research.

    Velikovsky was concerned with the times of the Exodus and Freud’s assertion that Moses wasn’t Jewish, as detailed in Freud’s book Moses and Monotheism (I think I have the title right). Velikovsky set out to disprove Freud, and what he discovered is covered in all of his books. He was no crank, though it’s fashionable to so describe him.

    My area of scientific specialisation is kimberlite and diamond geology, and it was Velikovsky’s work that enabled some of us to work out how kimberlites erupted. The Russians have done more work on this.

    I have to deal with Aboriginal stories and one thing I do know is that oral traditions don’t survive too well – I suspect that much of the present day stories relate to events associated with the start of the LIA; archaeologist Mungo Jupp is focussing his work on those stories.

    Louis Hissink

    16 Feb 13 at 9:31 pm

  48. Of course. AGW dries up the water supply, so they have to use meteor showers!

    :-)

    John A

    17 Feb 13 at 10:05 pm

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