2007 Carancas impact event
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A meteoroid struck on September 15, 2007 at 11:45 local time clock near the Peruvian village Carancas one. There, south of Lake Titicaca in the Andes, not far from the border with Bolivia, leaving the observed meteorite fall an approximately 14 -foot crater and sulfurous odor. Meteorite fragments were found in the area and they carry the designation Carancas.
Observations and examinations
The meteor crossed the envelope of air in a few seconds as a massive fireball that shone brighter than the sun. Surprisingly, it could not be observed breakage of the meteoroid from eyewitnesses. The celestial body came from north north-easterly direction and slammed into a soft, water-saturated ground. A plume of smoke was left in the sky, and at the point of a mushroom-shaped cloud rose from smoke, fumes and dust. The ground shook like an earthquake. The impact left a crater with a diameter of 14 m, a depth of 5 m and a wall of up to 1 m above the surrounding area. In a 1 km from the infirmary panes were broken. Eyewitnesses reported by boiling water in the crater, which is still half an hour was also observed after the impact. Rising steam with sulphurous odor led many residents to severe headaches and nausea. The noise associated with the impact could still be heard in the city, 20 km away Desaguadero and stopped at 15 minutes. On the spin-on material up to 5 cm in diameter was even found in 200 m distance. Three days after the impact the crater had already filled to 1 m below the original surface with groundwater. From scientists collected and examined fragile rock samples in addition to iron inclusions and silicates, as they are so far known from many meteorites. Due to the nature and composition of the meteorite fragments was assumed early on that it has been a chondrite. The meteorite expert Dr. Harold Connolly has studied fragments and classifies the meteorite as an ordinary chondrite subclass H4 / 5.
In La Paz, 70 km from the crater, the infrasound of Meteoroideneinschlags was recorded. From the strength of the air pressure wave calculated Professor Peter Brown of the " University of Western Ontario ," a kinetic impact energy of about 0.03 kT TNT.
In a press release dated 21 January 2008, the Humboldt -Universität zu Berlin announced to investigate the Meteoroideneinschlag detail.
39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
On the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held from 10th to 14th March, 2008 League City (Texas), further scientific findings were presented. After that scientists assume that the original meteoroid was several feet tall and had a mass of at least 10 tons. The initial speed was 12-16 km / s; the impact velocity was unusually large, amounting to at least 3 km / s, but the meteoroid could even s have been rapidly up to 6 km /. This is suggested by "planar deformation features" near which were found in some minerals of the ejecta. The impacting mass is expected to have approximately 3 t, and the released energy equivalent to 2 tons of TNT. The H4/H5-Chondrit had high levels of iron, nickel and troilite, a sulfur compound that is easily decomposed at high temperatures. The sulfur gases, which led to short-term symptoms in people on the crater are, therefore, very likely due to powdered troilite.
A new and unexpected finding is that even relatively small Steinmeteoroiden traverse the air surrounding the Earth in one piece and then can make much faster than in free fall to the earth's surface.
Future of the crater
Shortly after the meteorite fall, the crater was guarded by policemen and then surrounded with a fence. The crater should be protected from destruction by rainfall and river water. More on this later also a large tarp over the area was tense. The construction of a museum is planned and the impact crater to be preserved. The crater is however already very strongly flattened a few months after the event and looks like a dump.