The Chelyabinsk airburst – the perspective from three years post-impact

Peter Brown (University of Western Ontario)

April 25, 2016

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Abstract: The 0.5 Megaton Chelyabinsk airburst of Feb 15, 2013 was the largest recorded impact on Earth in over a century. Thanks to almost 1000 casual video recordings, the detailed fragmentation and energy deposition of this impact is well documented. These data, coupled with the recovery of several thousand LL5 meteorite fragments totaling several metric tonnes, have challenged contemporary models of large meteoroid ablation. In particular, ground damage, survival mass fraction as meteorites and transverse spreading of the fragmented impactor have been shown to be different from often assumed model values. In this talk I will summarize the major results from recent studies of the Chelyabinsk airburst and its implications for Planetary Defence.