The Chelyabinsk Meteor was a part of a potential planet
UrFU Scientists on the "Biography" of the Chelyabinsk Meteor.
- (1888PressRelease) January 12, 2017 - The studies of the scientists from the Consortium «Extra terra» based at Ural Federal University helped to understand the nature of the meteor. Before the explosion and collapse, the bolide was a part of a planetesimal, an object consisting of small rock fragments combined together to eventually form planets, which came from the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
"There are constant collisions of objects in the asteroid belt. One planetesimal could experience them for millions of years. The matter of the Chelyabinsk meteor was located close to the surface of the parent body and its structure reflected the results of collisions", says Victor Grokhovsky.
Layers in the matter of the Chelyabinsk meteor formed at the moment of one of such collisions. They appeared as a result of intensive movement of one part of the matter against the other.
The structure of the bolide was also affected by the event, which caused formation of the crater on the surface of the parent body.
"A large object hit the planetesimal. The metal within the area of impact melted; as a result, the peripheral segments of the crater fell into the melt. The meteor matter reflects this event, which caused the meteor to have various zones: light, black, gray and others", explains Victor Grokhovsky.
One of the collisions caused the fragment's separation from the main body. Unfortunately, it is impossible to define if it was a catastrophe for the whole planetesimal or its unaffected part continued its movement in the asteroid belt.
"The 19-meter-large body of bolide was thrown on the orbit of asteroids approaching the Earth. The Chelyabinsk meteor could have followed this trajectory for millions of years, until it 'came across' our planet", said Victor Grokhovsky.
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