Last Friday I blogged about Near Earth Objects (NEOs), space debris which come dangerously close to the Earth. I mentioned how most objects are currently unknown. Lo and behold, that day south-central Russia experienced an air burst which wounded over a thousand people.
I began to wonder if there is any online database of other meteorite impacts, making a cartography of where Earth and Space literally met with violent results. The best two sites I can find are
Meteorite Size: Every Meteorite Fall on Earth Mapped
The Meteoritical Society’s website which has a database of impacts. The database is viewable in Google Earth.
Understanding Meteorite Maps
Maps like these make it possible to look at meteorite records geographically rather than as isolated discoveries. By plotting recorded locations, they provide a broader picture of where meteorites have been observed, recovered, or documented around the world.
There is an important distinction between meteorites found on the ground and atmospheric events such as the Russian air burst mentioned above. Not every object entering Earth’s atmosphere survives to reach the surface, and not every recovered meteorite represents a major impact event.
The 2013 Russian Meteor Event
The event mentioned above occurred over the Chelyabinsk region of Russia on February 15, 2013. The object exploded in the atmosphere, producing a powerful shock wave that damaged buildings and injured people across the region.
The Chelyabinsk event became one of the best documented modern examples of a space object entering Earth’s atmosphere over a populated area. It also highlighted the value of tracking Near Earth Objects and studying the geographic record of meteorite falls.
Meteorite Records and Databases
The Meteoritical Society’s Meteoritical Bulletin Database remains an important scientific reference for recognized meteorites. Meteorite records can include information such as names, classifications, locations, and whether an object was observed falling or was discovered later on the ground.
Although some of the original interactive maps and Google Earth tools linked in this 2013 post have changed or disappeared over time, the underlying idea remains fascinating: mapping meteorite records creates a geographic picture of places where Earth and material from space have quite literally met.
