Chicago: meteorite magnet?

Recall our post about the great Chicago fire being caused by comet fragments? Over at Space.com there's a story today about a more recent impact:

You might think meteor expert Steven Simon knew exactly what was happening one evening when the skies over his home were lit up by an exploding, 2,000-pound space rock bigger than a refrigerator. But it was only the next day, when nearby residents brought him chunks of the extraterrestrial visitor that had landed in the street and punched through their roofs, that Simon began to understand the true nature of the frightening event.

Now after a year of study, the University of Chicago researcher has helped produce a full account of the giant rock that tore through the atmosphere at 54 times the speed of sound.

P.S. Check out this impact calculator to play out your own doomsday scenarios (writeup here).

Posted by David on April 19, 2004 12:15 PM