The B612 Foundation, a California-based nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about the risks of an asteroid collision, has released this video visualising the 26 asteroids that have hit the Earth's atmosphere between 2000 and 2013.
The 26 asteroids were identified by listening devices manned by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), a global detection network created to keep an ear out for unauthorised nuclear weapons testing. The impact explosions ranged in strength from one to 600 kilotons.
"To put that in perspective, the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945, exploded with an energy impact of 15 kilotons," the B612 Foundation pointed out in a press release.
Between 2000 and 2013, CTBTO's a network of sensors that monitors Earth around the clock listening for the infrasound signature of nuclear detonations detected 26 explosions on Earth ranging in energy from 1 to 600 kilotons.
These explosions were not by caused by nuclear explosions, but rather by asteroid impacts.
While most of these asteroids exploded too high in the atmosphere to do serious damage on the ground, the evidence is important in estimating the frequency of a potential “city-killer-size” asteroid.
A list of the impacts shown in the video can be found on the B612 website here.
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