Space & Astronomy

Sweden was hit by a double meteor strike

By T.K. Randall
September 14, 2015 ·  6 comments

Double impacts are rare but do happen from time to time. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The rare double impact event occurred during a period of intense bombardment brought about by a violent collision in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The largest of the two craters, which measures 4.7 miles across, is located to the south of the city of Östersund while the second, which measures half a mile wide, is situated a short distance from it.

"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," said geologist Erik Sturkell."Many of these crashed on Earth, such as these two in Jämtland."

The discovery of the craters is important because this is the first time that scientists have ever been able to conclusively prove that two impacts had occurred at the same time.

"Information from drilling operations demonstrates that identical sequences are present in the two craters, and the sediment above the impact sequences is of the same age," said Sturkell.

"In other words, these are simultaneous impacts."

Source: Gizmodo | Comments (6)

Tags: Meteor, Sweden