Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995icep.conf...52c&link_type=abstract
European Science Foundation 4th International Workshop of the Scientific Network on Impact Cratering and Evolution of Planet Ear
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The intersection of the Earth's orbit by a meteoric body in space is one of the necessary condition for an atmospheric impact of the body with a possible meteorite fall and/or microremnants at the surface. Very recent observations with the Spacewatch telescope indicate that the flux of Earth-crossing objects with diameters below 50 m is some 10-100 times than predicted and this might imply a significant greater hazard from atmospheric explosions of asteroids and cometary bodies than presently recognized. This event represents a typical fate for stony and carbonaceous asteroids up to tens of meters in radius, as well as for comets entering the Earth's atmosphere at common hypersonic velocities, whereas typical iron bodies disrupt lower, possibly reaching and cratering the terrestrial surface. Tensions in the meteoric body due to huge differences in temperatures may reach the material strength, procuding fragmentation and explosion with release of enormous energy. The present interpretation of the exceptional meteor phenomenon observed in January 19, 1993 over high-density population areas, mainly in the Marche and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy, was particularly impressive for the involved catastrophic fragmentation and the final flash. For estimated visual magnitudes M=-22 to -25 at the peak of the light curve corresponding to values of an initial radius of 1.5-3 m, a meteor luminosity ranging between 300 and 4000 GW was obtained. The emission of infrasonic waves after the blast was registered at many seismic stations in Emilia-Romagna. The explosion of the Lugo bolide is shown to be strongly dependent on the fragile nature of the body and confirms once more the common predicted fate for the SEAs (Small Earth Approachers) recently discovered by the Spacewatch telescope.
Cevolani Giordano
Foschini Luca
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