Can Large Meteors Really Fall Directly on Me?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pattielli
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Fall
AI Thread Summary
Large meteors can indeed survive their passage through the atmosphere, particularly nickel-iron meteors, which are responsible for creating significant craters like the one in Arizona. However, the likelihood of an individual being directly struck by a meteor is extremely low, with no recorded incidents of meteorites hitting people. While there have been close calls, such as meteors landing in homes or vehicles, these occurrences are rare. Concerns about large meteors causing regional damage exist, but they remain minimal and not a cause for alarm. Overall, the risk of a direct meteor impact on an individual is astronomically small.
Pattielli
Messages
296
Reaction score
0
Can this happen ?
I mean really big meteors which can't be smashed or destroyed when coming near our Earth...
Thank you
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Nickel-Iron meteors will mostly stay together as they pass through the atmosphere. They are presumably the ones that make meteor craters like the one in Arizona.
 
Yes...but don't worry. The odds are "astronomically" small of being directly hit by one (see the first link below).

As selfAdjoint indicated, the size & type & velocity of the object determines if it makes it through Earth's atmosphere to reach the ground. Small stuff burns up when it hits the atmosphere. Large stuff plows through the atmosphere and hits the ground.

AFAIK, there's no records of a meteorite hitting a person, but there have been close calls.

Someone's living room...
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030506.html

Someone's car...
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021118.html

Now the odds of a large meteorite doing regional damage are more concerning...but still nothing to lose sleep over.
 

Thread 'How feasible is home radio astronomy?'

Is a homemade radio telescope realistic? There seems to be a confluence of multiple technologies that makes the situation better than when I was a wee lad: software-defined radio (SDR), the easy availability of satellite dishes, surveillance drives, and fast CPUs. Let's take a step back - it is trivial to see the sun in radio. An old analog TV, a set of "rabbit ears" antenna, and you're good to go. Point the antenna at the sun (i.e. the ears are perpendicular to it) and there is...
View full post »

Thread '3I/ATLAS, Interstellar Comet'

3I/ATLAS, also known as C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) and formerly designated as A11pl3Z, is an iinterstellar comet. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station at Río Hurtado, Chile on 1 July 2025. Note: it was mentioned (as A11pl3Z) by DaveE in a new member's introductory thread. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/brian-cox-lead-me-here.1081670/post-7274146 https://earthsky.org/space/new-interstellar-object-candidate-heading-toward-the-sun-a11pl3z/ One...
View full post »

Similar threads

Stargazing Could the 1841 Meteor in Puget Sound Be Something Else?
Replies
17
Views
3K
Stargazing How Can a Grain of Sand Create a Bright Meteor?
2
Replies
80
Views
10K
B What Could Explain the Mysterious Beam of Plasma Seen in the Sky in 2017?
Replies
8
Views
2K
Geminid meteor goes the wrong way.
Replies
12
Views
5K
Asteroid, Meteorite, Meteoroid, or Meteor?
Replies
11
Views
5K
Chelyabinsk Meteor Strike: How Bright Was It?
Replies
6
Views
3K
I Asteroid Response Help: Get Answers to Your Questions Here
Replies
7
Views
2K
Coincidence of asteroid and Russian meteor at same time.
Replies
10
Views
4K
I How does a meteor explode in mid air, releasing massive amounts of energy?
Replies
7
Views
10K
Is what I saw - a meteor that was heading in my direction?
Replies
6
Views
3K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top