Scientists determined the trajectory of the fall of the asteroid that killed dinosaurs

The peculiarities of the fall on Earth of a giant asteroid, which destroyed the flora and fauna of the Mesozoic era, were found out by British scientists. They published the results of their study in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Our calculations show that the asteroid fell at a very steep angle, about 60 degrees to the horizon, moving towards Earth from the northeast. This is the most dangerous scenario of the fall, as a result the maximum amount of dust entered the atmosphere, the authors reported. According to scientists, the dust entering the atmosphere dissipated throughout the planet, causing the onset of nuclear winter. Researchers, to understand the details of the cataclysm, studied the huge 300-kilometre crater Chiksulub, which was formed from the fall of the meteorite. At the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, rocks formed at the time of crater formation were preserved, the structure of which was studied by geologists for four years. Scientists created a very accurate three-dimensional model of the crater and tried to recreate it as a result of a calculated experiment, colliding the mathematical model of the Earth with asteroids of different sizes, masses, compositions and fall paths. As a result of the calculations carried out, it turned out that the closest to the actual geometric dimensions of the crater, as well as the degree of compaction of the rocks inside it, were obtained at steep angles of the asteroid's impact on Earth. According to researchers, such a fall of an asteroid became the most destructive. According to scientists, if an asteroid fell at an angle of 15 degrees, the amount of dust thrown away would be approximately three times less. And if it fell strictly vertically, the dust would be an order of magnitude smaller. The study of the crater by geologists continues to determine additional details of events that took place about 66 million years ago during the fall of the asteroid.