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Re: (meteorobs) The Vitim bolide
Hi everybody,
(My first post here - Geert Barentsen introduced me to the list)
I have some questions about the Vitim fireball.
- Andrei mentions in his notes on the press conference the discovery of a
"forest-fall 6 by 10 km with a tree-burn in the center." The AFP press
report states "Over an area of 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) trees
were smashed in a pattern characteristic of very powerful blast effects" and
"about 20 craters, up to 20 metres (nearly 70 feet) in diameter." In the
picture nr. 5 I only see just one (?) charred-tree spot, measuring about 100
metres in diameter, with no visible crater and no damage done to the trees
standing outside this perimeter (except for a probable entry path to the
right of the picture). Should I interpret this as an area of 100 sq. km in
which several smaller impact areas were found? Or am I misunderstanding
something?
- The Novosti story mentions that the impacting body was probably a comet,
and not an asteroid. Are there any other examples of comets impacting, or
entering the atmosphere? Are the iron and stone meteorites always asteroid
material?
Thanks for reading through this email.
Regards,
Steven
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