News
A leading Queen's astronomer is appearing on the BBC’s Horizon programme this weekend to explain what we know about the asteroid that hit Russia two weeks ago injuring more than 1000 people.
In The Truth About Meteors: A Horizon Special to be shown at 9pm on Sunday evening on BBC2, Professor Alan Fitzsimmons from Queen’s Astrophysics Research Centre gives an insight into what happened in Russia and what we can do about such events in the future.
Professor Fitzsimmons is part of the European NEOShield team, who are currently studying the best way to deflect larger asteroids that may be on a collision course with earth. Speaking about the events in Russia, he said: "It was the largest asteroid strike on our planet for more than 100 years. When the asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, it took just 16 seconds to descend from 90km down to 15km above the ground.
“Most of the asteroid broke apart and vapourised in a catastrophic explosion at an altitude of 30km, releasing many times more energy than the nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. The resulting shockwave hit the ground a minute later, causing the 1400 reported injuries.
"Perhaps the shocking thing is how small this asteroid was to cause such an effect, only about 15 meters in diameter."
Coincidentally, Professor Fitzsimmons has just returned from working with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii, a Queen's University supported project that discovers previously unknown asteroids that could hit our planet in the future.
He explained: "Pan-STARRS 1 is designed to detect the larger asteroids that would cause significant damage should they enter our atmosphere. Although it sometimes spots smaller asteroids, no-one could have seen the Chelyabinsk impactor coming as it approached us from the direction of the Sun."
Professor Fitzsimmons is also one of the organisers of a Planetary Defense Conference to be held in the United States later this year.
The Truth About Meteors: A Horizon Special will be broadcast at 9pm on Sunday evening on BBC 2.
Further information about the work of Professor Fitzsimmons and his colleagues is available online at be http://star.pst.qub.ac.uk
Media inquiries to Claire O’Callaghan, Communications Officer. Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5391 or email c.ocallaghan@qub.ac.uk
