New Data concerning the Fall of the Great [Tungus] Meteorite on June 30, 1908, in Central Siberia *

This article contains a brief review of previous research; chiefly, however, new data concerning the fall of the Tungus, central Siberia, meteorite on June 30, 1908. New testimony of eyewitnesses was collected by the author and others in 1928‐32. A map of the region of the fall has been plotted. The meteorological conditions on the morning of June 30, 1908, have been studied on the basis of data from meteorological stations in central Siberia. The atmospheric phenomena accompanying the flight were studied with the aid of barograms from Siberian and European stations as well as seismograms recorded at Irkutsk. On the basis of sound phenomena and data supplied by barograms and seismograms, the moment of the explosion of the meteorite was determined (as 0 h ***16 m G.M.T.). On the basis of investigations of acoustic and light phenomena, an estimate of the number of wind‐fallen trees, the amplitude of oscillation of the atmospheric pressure at Slutsk and in England, and, finally, a comparison with other phenomena, the order of the work done by the explosion was calculated and found to be [between] ***10 29 and ***10 21 ergs. From the testimony of eyewitnesses, the brightness, color, and form of the head and the envelope of the meteorite, the character of the explosion, and the geocentric velocity were determined. Bounds for the [positions of the] trajectory and the radiant of the meteorite were found. [In §10 of this translation a simplification and an extension of Astapowitsch's discussion of the position of the trajectory and the radiant are given.]