• Question: have any metorites crashed into earth in recent history

    Asked by 08bowmanl to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 21 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi Bowman
      I’m not an expert in this area, but I believe meteorites crash into earth more or less every day. I guess most fall into the oceans, and most never get seen by anyone.

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      I don’t think any large meteors have impacted recently, but smaller debris hits our atmosphere and simply burns up before it can hit Earth. The most recent recorded meteorite impact I can find happened in 2008. A body of about 80tonnes in weight, and 2-5meters in diameter exploded above the sudan desert and around 600 fragments of the meteor were found.

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Lots have – it’s estimated that a few hundred meteorites hit the earth every year. Most of them we don’t notice because they are very small and hit earth in uninhabited areas or falls into one of the oceans.

      Eoin

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      hi 08bowmal im not really sure but wikipedia says that “an estimated 500 meteorites ranging in size from marbles to basketballs or larger do reach the surface each year”. These does seem quite a lot, so if i were you, i’d keep looking skywards!

Comments