E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
EUMETSAT
IR3.9 image of the thermal impact of the Russia meteor taken by Meteosat-9 satellite on Friday.
The meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains early Friday morning was spotted from space by a weather satellite as the space rock streaked through the atmosphere and exploded.
The photos were captured by the satellite Meteosat-9 as the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere , causing a sonic boom and injuring hundreds in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) east of Moscow.
A joint venture of the European Space Agency and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Meteosat-9 was launched in 2005 to keep watch on Earth's weather from space. The satellite also took video of the fireball.
Residents aboard the International Space Station weren't able to see the meteor explosion from the station's vantage point.
"We weren't in a position to be able to see that meteor do all that damage in Russia," Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said earlier Friday during a question-and-answer session held by the University of Waterloo in Canada.
According to NASA experts, the meteor was brighter than the sun when it fell into the atmosphere, and remained visible for about 30 seconds.
The meteor explosion is not related to Friday's close flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 , NASA scientists say.
Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
- Russian Meteor Track and Detonation Seen From Space | Video
- Meteor Streaks Over Russia, Explodes (Photos)
- Meteor Hits Central Russia, 900+ Hurt | Video
- 5 Amazing Fireballs Caught on Video
Copyright 2013 Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Leave a Comment:
If the space-borne zombie virus is released by this asteroid:
Rule #1 - Cardio
Phony video - not even any sound.
Satellite several thousand miles from meteor.
In space, no one can hear you scream (or explosions)
Hundreds of scientists and meteor thieves have already booked their flights to Russia in hopes they will be able to cash in on collecting pieces of this meteor. Russia has countered by implementing a 'meteor search license' in addition to raising visa fees. It will now cost you the equivalent of $1000 US to go searching for meteorite fragments, and Russia will then sell you what you manage to collect for a nominal price per gram. Happy hunting.
What would totally suck for the astronauts is if there was a planet killer meteor that we didn't see hit earth and wipe everyone out. Those astronauts would be stuck up there knowing that life on earth is done and that they will be stuck up there until they run out of food and water, and eventually die. Now that would suck.
They would simply set up for reentry and land. It's already programmed into the computers. Then they could die on earth if they couldn't find water, food, and shelter
meteor track and DETONATION? um, its a meteor is it not? do meteors DETONATE???????????????? what a crock of BS. maybe the russian prez has something thinking its a weapon.
Yes meteors can explode. In this case, into several pieces.
Wow, really poor picture quality. What a joke.