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Q&A

What Kind of Bolide Would Chicxulub Be to Create the Bigger Airburst--Asteroid or Comet?

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66 million years ago, something brought an end to the long-established dinosaur empire. The pendulum just kept shifting between an asteroid and a comet, astronomical bolides that actually have different chemistries, hence the distinctions.

Bolides that explode in midair are not unheard of. As of 2020, it remains the likeliest explanation for what happened in the remote Siberian land of Tunguska in 1908. And, of course, there is the numerous video evidence of such a thing at Chelyabinsk in 2013.

In an alternate Earth, the Chicxulub impactor breached the planet's atmosphere, but exploded at only five miles above sea level. With this specified detail, which kind of bolide impactor would detonate in a bigger explosion (therefore cause greater damage to life on Earth) at five miles above sea level--an asteroid or a comet?

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This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/167340. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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