William Atkins
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 00:56
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 3
A newly discovered meteorite that impacted in southwestern Egypt a few thousand years ago, and produced what is being called the Kamil Crater, could mean that we are all at greater risk of getting hit by one.
The Kamil Crater found in Egypt was first discovered when Italian and Egyptian researchers were looking over data from Google Earth images in February 2010.
They found a 45-meter wide, 16-meter deep impact crater filled with sand in southwestern Egypt.
The researchers think the rock that came crashing to Earth had a mass of between 5 and 10 metric tons (approximately 11,023 and 22,046 pounds) when it impacted the ground at a speed of about 3.5 kilometers (around 2.1 miles) per second.
The size and speed of the rock would have caused it to vaporize as soon as it hit the ground.
It you had been standing on that same spot at the time of impact, you, too, would have been vaporized.
The scientists estimate that the iron-based meteorite slammed into the Earth around five thousand years ago, plus or minus a couple of thousand years.
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