Images related to the crater hypothesis




The Anfinogenov spindles

In the figure: h – height from the Earth surface; r – distance from the point called "Fast Epicenter"; TCB1 (green) - The main fragment of the Tunguska Cosmic Body that caused the forest devastation; TCB2 (red) - The fragment of the TCB that flew in the direction of the lake Cheko; TCB3 (blue) - Some minor fragment of the TCB that penetrated the permafrost with an energy not sufficient to create a crater. The width of the cylinders is proportional to the energy emitted in the corresponding path segment.

In the qualitative Anfinogenov model the bolide begins disrupting and vaporizing when it enters the stratosphere and releases an increasing energy as it moves down. The maximal energy emission is reached by TCB1 at a height of 6–8 km. The resulting shock wave has the form of the so-called “Anfinogenov spindle”. On the basis of the tree fall data and earlier eyewitness testimonies we consider that the TCB was a multiple bolide formed by at least two bodies of similar mass. They likely entered the atmosphere very close to each other following parallel trajectories with azimuths ~135°. The second body flew slightly higher, behind the first, and was decelerated by the shock wave. The resulting summary shock wave from the different spindles had an inclination angle of it symmetry axis α = ~45° (see paper pdf, 18.9 Mb).


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