On June 30, 1908, a giant fireball exploded over the forests of Tunguska in Siberia. The impact swept away hundreds of miles of forest, and the exact cause is a bit mysterious.
The huge explosion of Russian meteorites is the largest since 1908 | Infographic
At the time of the explosion, it was too difficult to reach this remote part of Siberia to search for clues as to what might have happened. But finally, in 1927, a scientist named Leonid Kulik led the first research expedition to investigate the scene. However, they did not find a crater or any meteorite fragment, and the mystery remained unsolved.
Early 1908 meteorites Tunguska explosion possibly found
Scientists now believe that a comet or asteroid exploded in the atmosphere instead of hitting Earth. This created an explosion of air with shock waves powerful enough to knock down a forest.
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This article was adapted from an earlier version published in All About Space Bookazine, a publication of Future Ltd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook.
This article was adapted from an earlier version published in All About Space Bookazine, a publication of Future Ltd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook.
