Guide To Space - Universe Today News: 7 Stage Journey Reveals How Falling Space Rocks Survive Air

0:00It's the 365 days of Astronomy PodGa, coming in 3, 2, 1. Today we're starting a new series of episodes, the universe today news. Today I'm recording Lawrence Tanyaides, 7 Stage Journey, reveals how falling space rocks survive air. At least once in our lives we've all seen a bright streak of light briefly blaze across the sky and have quickly referred to it as an asteroid, a meteor, shooting star, comet, or some other whimsical name we've heard others use to describe it. For those calling it a meteor, you would be correct, but we'll touch upon this later. The time it takes for a space rock and bleed being its scientific name to travel through

1:03Earth's atmosphere and crash into the ground literally takes only a few seconds. But what happens to a space rock during this very brief travel time? And how can scientists use this to learn about a specific space rock's origin and the potential damage it could cause if it explodes in mid-air? Now, a team of researchers from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center might have shed new light on what happens to space rocks as they blaze through the Earth's atmosphere. In findings recently published in meteorotics and planetary science, the researchers introduced a step by step process regarding what happens to space rocks from the moment they enter the Earth's atmosphere and all the way to ground impact. The primary motivation behind the study was to fill a long-standing knowledge gap regarding how a space rock's composition influences what happens if it explodes mid-air, like the

2:04one that exploded over a cell you've been in in Russia in 2013. To accomplish this, the researchers analyzed image and video data from 75 meteorite falls regarding several attributes including entry, angle, spin rate, and mass loss. One of these 75 was asteroid 2023 CX-1. The resulting Sampier Le Vierre meteorite fall was on February 13, 2023. In the end, the researchers introduced a seven-stage process that space rocks endure as they enter and travel through the Earth's atmosphere. Series 1 at the Spheric Entry. Two, brightness begins. Three, brightness increases with fireball appearance. Four, brightness maintains while melting begins. Five, front of the rock begins to break apart. Six, back of the rock breaks apart. Seven, melting and breaking apart continue until glowing stops, followed by a melting

3:08ending and wind discards-crusted pieces. We used to think that solid rocks would evaporate from the enormous heat and really light generated in the air collision. Said Dr. Peter Jenaskins, a meteor astronomer at the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, and lead author of the study. We found instead that first melting and then fragmentation controls how a rock loses mass. The researchers note that the 75 meteorites they studied went through the seven phases at different altitudes and were also based on the meteorite composition. They specifically emphasized these findings could help better inform planetary defense measures and how to prepare if an incoming space rock explodes in mid-air. Past exploding space rocks. As I noted earlier, a recent example of a space rock exploding in mid-air occurred in Chelyabin, Russia on February 15, 2013, on a 20-meter or 66-foot diameter near Earth

4:15asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere. It was traveling at 19 kilometers per second or 12 miles per second, which is 68,400 kilometers per hour or 42,500 miles per hour, and exploded at an approximate altitude of 30 kilometers or 18.5 miles. The blast was equivalent to about 30 times the Hiroshima bomb, and about 1,500 individuals were injured largely from broken glass that shattered across more than 7,200 buildings in six cities. Another one of the most famous exploding space rocks also occurred over Russia, though it occurred more than a century earlier. This was the Tunguska explosion, which occurred on June 30, 1908, though the bull lead was much larger at about 5,200 meters or 160 to 330 feet in diameter. It exploded at an altitude of about 5 to 10 kilometers or 3 to 6 miles, and the resulting

5:19blast was about 1,000 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb. This incredible blast resulted in the felling of about 80 million trees over an area of more than 2,150 square kilometers or 830 square miles. Cleaning up whimsical names. While this study refers to a space rock as a bull lead, spares for aah, it just sounds cooler. However, it's important to provide the real names of astronomical objects to clear up any confusion. For example, an object residing in space that is smaller than 1 meter or about 3.3 feet wide is called a meteoroid, whereas an asteroid is larger than 1 meter wide. A meteor is the visual streak of light seen as a meteoroid or an asteroid blazes through a Earth's atmosphere. Finally, a meteorite is the piece that survives the atmosphere and lands on the ground.

6:24What new insights into meteorite forming processes will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science. As always, keep doing science and keep looking up. You are listening to the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Cool. The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. Audio-Post Production is by me, Richard Drum. Project Management is by Aviva Yamani, and hosting is donated by LibSyn.com. This content is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License. Please share what you love, but don't sell what's free.

7:25This show is made possible thanks to the generous donations of people like you. Please consider supporting our show on patreon.com, forward slash CosmoQuestX, and get access to bonus content. Without your passion and contribution, we won't be able to share the stories and inspire the worlds. We invite you to join our community of storytellers and share your voice with the listeners worldwide. As we wrap up today's episode, we're looking forward to unraveling more stories from the universe. With every new discovery from ground-based and space-based observatories, and each milestone and space exploration, we come closer to understanding the cosmos and our place within it. Until next time, let the stars guide your curiosity.