American scientists have found the reason why cosmic bodies flying up to the Earth explode. The study is published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, according to Purdue University (USA).
“There is a large gradient between high-pressure air in front of the meteoroid and rarefaction behind it,” notes co-author Jay Milosh. "If air enters the pores of a meteoroid, it tears it apart from the inside."
Experts came to similar conclusions by simulating the asteroid's entry into the Earth's atmosphere and its fall onto the planet's surface. According to scientists, the air shell is the best protection of the planet from celestial bodies.
The authors used data on the Chelyabinsk meteorite as a model example of a natural phenomenon. It is a fragment of an asteroid that entered the Earth's atmosphere on February 15, 2013 at about 07:10 Moscow time. The space body exploded up to 50 kilometers. When it entered the atmosphere, the meteoroid had a mass of about 10 thousand tons, but only a fifth of it reached the planet's surface.
