10 interesting facts about the Tunguska meteorite that are still difficult to explain

June 30, 1908 at 7:15, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, near the village of Vanavara, there was a powerful explosion. It was assumed that a meteorite fell, which was called Tunguska. Witnesses recalled that this object resembled a ball or barrel. During the flight, he made a crack, a loud rumble, hiss.

The explosion occurred at an altitude of 7-10 km above the taiga region, it was not instantaneous. All this was accompanied by sounds similar to thunder. Hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter, window panes were broken in buildings, and for several days there was a glow in the sky over a large area.

And, despite the fact that everything happened quite a long time ago, many expeditions were sent to this place, so far much remains unclear. You can see for yourself if you read 10 interesting facts about the Tunguska meteorite. This is one of the few mysteries of the XNUMXth century, on the solution of which the best minds of our country worked.

10 There is still debate about the origin of the meteorite.

There is still no hypothesis that could explain all the features of this phenomenon.. But, nevertheless, there is no shortage of hypotheses.

The scientist I. Zotkin in 1970 wrote an article in which he collected 77 hypotheses. Initially, it was assumed that a heavy meteorite fell or a swarm of iron meteorites. But this version was not recognized as final.

English astronomer Francis Whipple believed that it was the nucleus of a comet or its fragment. Geochemist V. Vernadsky was sure that this was a loose clot consisting of cosmic dust. It was this explanation that seemed the most plausible and was accepted by most astronomers.

There were also incredible theories. So, science fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev in 1945 suggested that a spaceship that had flown from another planet exploded and crashed in the taiga, but his hypothesis was criticized.

In 2009, NASA experts suggested that it was a meteorite, but it consisted of ice. Russian researchers also agreed with them. This was also confirmed by previous numerical calculations. And academician of cosmonautics I.N. Murzinov believes that it was a stone meteorite.

9. No impact crater left at the crash site

Experts were confident that the crater from the fall would soon be discovered, and it is located in a place called the Southern Swamp. A depression, not very deep in depth, should have formed there, which was flooded with water in the very first summer. Then it dragged on with silt, overgrown with moss.

But after the war, an expedition (1958) was sent to the site of the fall of the meteorite, which could not find the meteorite crater. The scientists decided that this proves that the body exploded in the atmosphere, so there was no crater left.

8. Influenced the Earth’s magnetic field

The shock wave was able to go around our planet 2 times and caused small changes in its magnetic field. Shortly thereafter, a magnetic storm began, which lasted about 4-5 hours.. This event was recorded at many seismic stations, including in Irkutsk, Tbilisi, Jena, Tashkent.

15 hours after the incident, the sky was shining over Europe, the Atlantic and Russia. The glow gradually began to decline, but lasted until the end of July.

7. Explosion power 45-50 megatons

After the atomic bomb was invented, scientists were able to calculate that the power of this explosion was at least 40 megatons, or 2 thousand atomic charges, if we talk about charges of medium power.

Almost the same explosion was during the testing of a hydrogen bomb that was detonated on the northern island of Novaya Zemlya back in 1961. And its design capacity was 100 megatons.

6. Fragments of the meteorite have not been found

Dozens of enthusiasts, as well as entire expeditions, went to the taiga to find meteorite fragments, but nothing could be found.. There are no pieces that we could hold in our hands, but some traces still remain. A narrow strip of cosmic dust was found that stretched for 250 km.

Sphagnum moss growing in the forest (it is a natural absorbent) has retained particles of individual substances. In the resin of larches common in this area, a soft metallic composition was found, in which there were many substances known to us.

But it is possible that the taiga was not polluted by a meteorite, but by the eruption of one of the volcanoes called Ksudach, which was a year before the incident. Helium-3 isotopes were found in the resin of trees, in quantities ten times greater than what is usually found on Earth.

5. The explosion destroyed 2 km² of forest

The blast wave knocked out 80 million trees, which were located on an area of ​​​​2150 square meters. km. Interestingly, the fall of the forest had an unusual shape, resembling the wings of a butterfly. A fire started immediately after the incident. At first, the shock wave knocked down the flames, but then it arose again.

Large areas of the taiga have turned into a scorched, lifeless desert. But, interestingly, after the explosion, the vegetation began to grow rapidly, which could be caused by the fact that the shock wave thinned out the forest, and after the explosion, the soil was fertilized with ash and nutrients.

The larch taiga in this place recovered much faster than usual – after five to seven years, and coniferous forests – after seven to nine years. This could also be due to radiation, which was slightly increased in the epicenter itself. But there is no information that someone died from radiation sickness, i.e. this version has not been proven.

4. The first expedition went to the epicenter of the explosion in 1921

Mineralogist L.A. was especially interested in the Tunguska meteorite. Sandpiper. From 1927 to 1939, he was at the head of 6 expeditions (according to another version – 4) to the place of his fall. The first expedition was organized in 1921but that was just preparation. Experts communicated with the local population, collected information about the disaster, tried to determine exactly where it all happened.

The main expedition that explored the crash site was organized in 1927. She found fallen wood over a large area, but, interestingly, where the center of the explosion was, the trees were not affected. There were no traces of a crater.

L.A. Kulik spent a lot of time looking for fragments, organized aerial photography of this place, talked with witnesses of the incident. He was going to continue his work, organize a new expedition in 1941, but his plans were interrupted by the war. The scientist went to the front, was captured and died of typhus.

3. No anomalous content of any of the chemical elements in the disaster area

Not a single chemical analysis showed that there was an anomalous amount of any chemical elements in the explosion zone.. And this is not an unfounded assertion. Only during one of the expeditions, 1280 analyzes were taken, soil, plant material and water were studied in order to obtain reliable information. But everything was within the normal range.

2. At least 6 blast location coordinates

The coordinates of the explosion site are also different, they could not be established with an accuracy of a kilometer. There are now at least 6, and the difference is small – 1 ° in longitude or latitude. It is not possible to establish a more exact location.

1. The epicenter of the explosion almost coincides with the site of the eruption of an ancient volcano

Interestingly, the epicenter of the explosion was located in the same place where the crater of an ancient volcano was located. It was active in the Triassic period, i.e. about 200-250 million years ago. Its traces of the eruption interfere with research, because. It is not clear how certain minerals got into this area: due to the fall of a meteorite, or came to the surface during an eruption.