Last week, news about a green and orange “fireball” in Thailand made headlines and spread rapidly across social media. The topic seems to be rather popular, not only in Thailand, but also around the world. Just recently, for instance, researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden uncovered evidence of twin meteors, both of which hit Earth at roughly the same time, about 458 million years ago.
DOUBLE METEOR IS A RARE OCCASION
According to Live Science, the “fireball” (or meteor) craters were found in central Sweden, in the county of Jämtland. Erik Sturkell, a geophysics professor at the University, stated that the meteors that formed the impacts coincidentally crashed into Earth just a few miles apart from each other at the same moment. The larger crater, located 20 kilometers south of Östersund in Brunsflo, has a diameter of 7.5 kilometers, while the smaller crater, just 16 kilometers away, has a diameter of 700 meters.
“Around 470 million years ago, two large asteroids collided in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and many fragments were thrown off in new orbits. Many of these crashed on Earth, such as these two in Jämtland,” says Erik Sturkell.
The scientists were able to determine this by analyzing the geological sequences, or layers of rock, found inside each crater; the sequences were identical and the accumulated sediment inside the craters were also found to date back to the same time.
During this period, Jämtland was still under the sea. Thus, when the meteors struck, water was force away from the site of impact, giving way to two completely dry pits.
“The water then rushed back in, bringing with it fragments from the meteorites mixed with material that had been ejected during the explosion and with the gigantic wave that tore away parts of the sea bed,” says Erik Sturkell.
SWEDEN AND ITS METEOR HISORY
In the past, scientists have also found evidence of meteor impacts in what is now Sweden. During the 1940s, quarry workers came across a red meteorite, made out of limestone, on Kinnekulle hill, located in the county of Västergötland. Since then, roughly 90 or so meteorites have been uncovered in the same area just in the past 15 years.
WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM? FROM SPACE!
