[meteorite-list] Chelyabinsk at White House today

[Kelly Beatty]

Chris...

> It's extremely doubtful that this body could have done all that much 
> more damage. It simply wasn't big enough, or strong enough. 

I spoke at some length about this with Mark Boslough, a Sandia Labs expect in
airborne shock waves (read: bombs). he's the one who modeled Tunguska a few
years ago:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/12662606.html

what Mike Farmer says agrees with Boslough's assessment: had the impactor come
in more vertically, its terminal burst would have been lower, and its shock
wave (and fireball) would have been focused on the ground directly below,
creating substantially more damage. details: 
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Update-on-the-Russian-Mega-Meteor-195553631
.html


clear skies,
Kelly

****************
J. Kelly Beatty
Senior Contributing Editor
SKY & TELESCOPE
617-416-9991
SkyandTelescope.com