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The Vredefort impact structure is the largest verified impact structure on Earth. [1] The crater, which has since been eroded away, has been estimated at 170–300 kilometres (110–190 mi) across when it was formed. [2] [3] The remaining structure, comprising the deformed underlying bedrock, is located in present-day Free State province of ...
Crater Crater diameter Body diameter Ratio Images Notes Mercury: Caloris: 1,550 km (963 mi) 4,880 km 32% Rembrandt: 715 km (444 mi) 15% Venus: Mead: 280 km (170 mi) 12,100 km 2% Earth: Vredefort: 250–300 km (160–190 mi) 12,740 km 2% Chicxulub crater: 182 km (113 mi) 1.4% Cause or contributor of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event ...
Vredefort (locally / ˈ f r ɪər d ə f ɔːr t /, Afrikaans: [ˈfriədəfɔrt]) is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa with cattle, peanuts, sorghum, sunflowers and maize being farmed. It is home to 3,000 residents.
The Vredefort impact event, which occurred around 2 billion years ago in Kaapvaal Craton (what is now South Africa), caused the largest verified crater, a multi-ringed structure 160–300 km (100–200 mi) across, forming from an impactor approximately 10–15 km (6.2–9.3 mi) in diameter. [70] [71]
Satellite radar found the site on the northern coast of France, researchers said.
An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, [2] impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. [3]
The largest in the last one million years is the 14-kilometre (8.7 mi) Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan and has been described as being capable of producing a nuclear-like winter. [11] The source of the enormous Australasian strewnfield (c. 780 ka) is a currently undiscovered crater probably located in Southeast Asia. [12] [13]