Three Unanswered Questions About the Russian Meteor

The world has been waiting ages for today's asteroid flyby, but it turns out we were watching the wrong rock. While the small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 is still set to make a close but uneventful flyby later today, an even smaller rock went careening into central Russia this morning and injured over 1,000 people.

Traveling at a speed of 19 miles a second and weighing about 10 tons, the object broke apart around 20 miles above ground and caused a shockwave that blew out windows and set off car alarms. But what else do we know about the meteor?

Why Russia?

When it comes to viewing an object during flyby, timing is everything: For 2012 DA14, the only places on Earth to catch a glimpse of the meteor (with a good telescope) will be parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This smaller meteor just happened to be swinging closest to Earth at a moment that lined it up with Central Russia. A weird coincidence, since the most recent comparable impact occurred in 1908 in Tunguska, Russia. Statistically speaking, objects like this are most likely to land in the ocean or in uninhabited areas, but Russia covers so much landmass that they're bound to spot a few.

But the chance location of the impact was pretty fortuitous to those hoping to see recordings of the event. Because of a widespread disregard for traffic laws and a reputation for impossible insurance claims, Russia's use of dashboard cameras has skyrocketed in recent years. Most citizens keep a camera on their dash to film their daily drive in case of an accident, so we've been privy to some top-notch footage of the meteor's moment of impact.

How Do We Know This Isn't Part of 2012 DA14?

Simple: In videos of the meteor, it clearly travels from left to right in front of the rising sun?in other words, north to south. DA14 is traveling in the opposite direction, from south to north.

Will We Ever See Objects This Small Coming?

The Russian meteor was probably about 49 feet across, which makes it too small for telescopic surveys to pick up on. DA14 is three times larger, so NASA has been able to track it, but that's on the small side for an asteroid.

Of course, if you ask Neil deGrasse Tyson, the meteor is nature's way of asking us how the space program is going. Anything is possible with funding and research, but since tiny objects are hard to spot and large objects are too rare to be worried about, don't expect quick advancements in the field of meteor spotting.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/natural-disasters/three-unanswered-questions-about-the-russian-meteor-15104678?src=rss

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