On June 30 , 1908 , a large explosion take place near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia . Around 2,150 straight kilometers ( 830 square miles ) of the Siberian forest was flattened , tremors were detected as far as the UK and the US , and three people may have die out . The explosion is believed to have bring out 30 megatons of vigor , enough to tear down a city .
The cause of the consequence originated outside Earth . A space body introduce the air , disintegrate , and the shockwave produced led to the cataclysmal effect . However , a fresh cogitation publish in theMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societyhas provided a flimsy pinch to that scenario . What if the space organic structure never disintegrate but alternatively rebounded back into infinite ? The team figure an asteroid hitting the atmosphere like a stone skip on a lake , bring about the shockwave that drop all those trees .
The theme , although rum , may explain several odd features about the Tunguska event . Researchers have retrieve no evidence of an impingement volcanic crater ( the nearby " wallop " lake is nowbelieved to be older)and there is a distinct absence of meteorological stuff near the epicentre of the upshot . In the written report , the fireball in question may have instead crossed the atm , reaching an elevation as low as 10 to 15 kilometer ( 6 to 9 geographical mile ) before continuing its journey through infinite .
The team looked at infinite body 200 , 100 , and 50 meters ( 656 , 328 , and 164 feet ) in sizing and draw up of dissimilar fabric : smoothing iron , rock , or Methedrine . transition through the atmospheric state is brutal , with friction from gentle wind resistance creating incredible temperatures . Ice and rocky trunk would not survive . An iron one , however , might with minimal mass reduction , come up in at a shallow angle and restrain its speed over the Earth ’s escape velocity .
“ At present , there are over 100 hypotheses about the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon , among which three to four adaptation are predominant theories , ” wrote researchers led by stargazer Daniil Khrennikov of the Siberian Federal University in the paper .
So how does this newspaper measurement against them ? The work is focus on investigating the theory that a space body can figure Earth ’s atmosphere and keep on on its trajectory away from Earth mostly unhurt . The team show this is potential under certain conditions . The finding are exciting but there are several limitations , include the fact they did not feign the geological formation of the shockwave but used calculation from the Chelyabinsk meteorite event and previous research from 1966 . They contrive to inquire the scenario in more detail in future body of work .
For now , the origin of the Tunguska event remains shrouded in mystery .
[ H / T : Science Alert ]
