meteor impact
Space rock crash
A meteor impact is the collision of a meteoroid or asteroid with a planetary surface.
Large impacts leave craters, scatter debris, and can have catastrophic effects—the asteroid impact 66 million years ago likely caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Scientists study meteor impacts to assess future risks to Earth.
- craterImpact or volcanic basin
- asteroidSun-orbiting rocky mass
- fireballLuminous meteor or explosion
- shooting starBurning debris in atmosphere
- deep spaceRemote regions beyond planets
extinction · end of days · dinosaurs · collision · ground zero · blast · shock wave · shockwave · debris · tungsten · explosion · atmosphere · streak · flash · devastation · iridium · scorched · cataclysm
- natural disastersearthquake, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic eruption
- shock wavesshock wave, shock waves, blast wave, pressure wave, sonic boom
meteor impactnear miss
Narrowly averted incident
flyby · miss · deflection · safe passage · gravitational slingshot
meteor impactcontinental drift
Gradual landmass repositioning
meteor impactplanetary formation
How worlds coalesce from debris
meteor, impact, meteors, meteoric, meteorite, meteorites, meteoroid, meteoroids, meteorology