On Feb 15, 2013 a 20m asteroid impacted just south of the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia releasing half a megaton of energy. The damage caused by the impact (window breakage, light structural damage) was a surprise – models of the time predicted that ground damage from impacts should only occur for larger objects. In the half dozen years since Chelyabinsk, study of this airburst has led to improved models of impact effects from small NEOs and a re-assessment of the risk posed by small, decameter-sized impactors. In this talk I will summarize key lessons gleaned from the Chelyabinsk airburst and what we have learned about the small NEO population and the associated impact hazard at Earth.

About the Speaker:

Prof. Peter G. Brown is the Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario. His principal research interest is small bodies in the solar system, including-
• Meteoroids - their origin and evolution
• Radar, optical and infrasonic measurements of meteors
• Meteorite source regions and large bodies interacting with Earth’s atmosphere
• Infrasonic and seismic detection of bolide airbursts  
                   
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