Nine years ago, a huge meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk, leaving behind many meteorites and dust, which attracted the attention of many experts, and also started various asteroid monitoring programs. The Chelyabinsk meteorite explosion is the largest meteorite explosion in the earth’s atmosphere since the Tunguska event in 1908. Its power is 30 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It can be seen on monitors or dash cam videos. The meteorite flashes in flames and produces a large sonic boom. , shattered glass and damaged many buildings, causing at least 1,200 minor and serious injuries.
The researchers analyzed the small fragments left behind after the meteorite exploded. Typically, when a meteor burns, a small number of particles are produced, either too small to be found, or scattered by the wind into the water or polluted by the environment. However, the dust cloud generated after the meteorite exploded in the atmosphere for more than 4 days before falling to the earth’s surface. Fortunately, the layers of snow that fell before and after the disaster saved some samples and were eventually discovered by scientists.
After analyzing the dust with a powerful electron microscope, the researchers found new types of crystals, which come in two shapes, quasi-spherical or “almost spherical” shells and hexagonal rod-shaped objects, both of which are new. Using X-ray analysis, scientists found that these crystals are composed of layers of graphite, and the candidates may be fullerenes or cycloalkanes, but not in the form commonly seen on Earth.
▲ Meteorite dust crystals seen by an electron microscope.
Scientists believe that these crystals formed under high temperature and pressure conditions when meteors broke apart, although the exact mechanism is unclear, scientists hope to track other meteorite samples to see if this is a common by-product or unique to the Chelyabinsk meteorite explosion. The paper was published in the European Journal of Physics.
(This article is reproduced with permission from the Taipei Planetarium; source of the first image: Pixabay)
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