Little asteroids and other small dust and particles bombard our world daily. Well, the answer depends on whether youre asking about big or little impacts. We actually got hit by an asteroid that was the size of a small structure and that one broke down about 20 kilometers above the city of Chelyabinsk.
By NASA
December 18, 2021
Well, the answer depends on whether youre inquiring about large or small impacts. Due to the fact that Earth gets hit all the time. Luckily for us, the huge majority of these impactors are little and they just burn in the environment.
The most substantial fireball event in over 100 years happened over Russia in 2013. We in fact got struck by an asteroid that was the size of a small structure and that one broke down about 20 kilometers above the city of Chelyabinsk. And it deposited a fair number of meteorites inthe ground and I occur to have a piece of the Chelyabinsk impactor right here in my hand.
But what about big effects, the ones that leave craters tens of kilometers large and trigger big amounts of devastation?
We need to go far back in time for such an event and those old craters are not simple to spot since by now theyre greatly eroded, theyre filled with sediments, or they can be at the bottom of the ocean.
But to keep the long story short, little impacts, they happen all the time, particularly considered that about 15,000 lots of space dust hit Earth every year. And big effects are uncommon, and were talking millions of years rare.
When was the last time an asteroid struck Earth? Most likely today, but the chances are it was really little and just burned in the atmosphere.
When was the last time an asteroid hit Earth? It was practically certainly very small. Little asteroids and other tiny dust and particles bombard our planet daily.