Swarm of fragments from the Tunguska event

• Published in: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Main Author: Gladysheva, Olga G
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2020
• Subjects: Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics; Tunguska; taiga; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa1620; http://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/mnras/staa1620/33371670/staa1620.pdf; http://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-pdf/496/2/1144/33481212/staa1620.pdf

ABSTRACT The Tunguska event took place on 1908 June 30. It was accompanied by an abnormal effect on the Earth's atmosphere, manifesting itself through ‘white nights’. These nights were associated with a dispersion of cosmic matter and the formation of a field of noctilucent clouds with a uniquely large size of over 10 million km2. However, overall, the cosmic matter was scattered over a territory of around 18 million km2. The most likely cause of the Tunguska event was the flux of fragments from the broken-up cometary object. The destruction of the cosmic body over Siberia, according to local inhabitants, was marked by numerous sound phenomena. After analysing eyewitness accounts, we can conclude that there were at least two major objects at the Tunguska event. The largest object exploded over the Taiga and caused damage to the forest. In addition, there were several dozen fragments of around 10 m in size, as well as many fragments of a smaller size.