Tunguska, 100 years later

On June 30th, 1908, witnesses described a fireball in the sky over Siberia, resulting in a column of fire moments later that split the sky and threw some observers to the ground.  The area impacted, near the Podkammenaya Tungus river in an unpopulated, swampy part of northern Siberia, was levelled for hundreds of kilometers around, with all the trees flattened, but no crater in its epicenter.  This was thereafter known as the Tunguska Event, and its circumstances remain shrouded in mystery and have since become a staple of fictional conjecture.

I can’t adequately convey the grandeur of the damage done, at least not in comparison with some other, more eloquent astral observers.  I just thought it was noteworthy enough to merit a blog post and a number of links where you can read more about the event and the speculation that scientists may have recently proven that a nearby lake is the actual impact point, where the remains of the meteor may be at its bottom.

Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy has a brilliant write-up on the event, as does the BBC News service.

Edit: Holy crap, sorry Mr. Plait.  My error in your site name is unforgivable, especially given that it created a pingback in the comments thread.  My shame knows no bounds.

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Tunguska, 100 years later
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2 thoughts on “Tunguska, 100 years later

  1. 1

    Dear Jason,
    I think your Spam filter went on vacation.  One of the downsides of having a blog that gets a little bit of attention i guess.  Hope all works well with you.
    -S

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