Cometary nature of the 1908 Tunguska cosmic body

Abstract

AbstractThe cometary nature of the 1908 Tunguska cosmic body is compatible with the predictions of an analytical theory of the 1908 Tunguska explosion developed in 1976–1979. The theory takes into account the three simultaneously occurring processes, namely aerodynamic destruction of the cosmic body in the Earth's atmosphere, transversal expansion of the crushed mass under the action of pressure gradient on the frontal surface of the body, and an aerodynamic deceleration of crushed expanding mass. The use, for the mechanical parameters of the Tunguska cosmic body, of the characteristics of a cometary nuclei such as that of comet Halley 1986 III and comet Shoemaker – Levy 9 1994, gives parameters of the Tunguska explosion derived from observations of Tunguska event in the Siberian taiga in 1908.