Chelyabinsk Meteor

Marat Akhmetvaleyev was out on a morning photo shoot at one of his favorite spots. Little did he know he had walked right into the path of a meteorite.

Where were these photographs taken, and how did you come to be in that particular place at that particular time?

These photographs were taken on the Miass River, not far from the city park in central Chelyabinsk. This area is especially picturesque in the winter, because the river barely freezes, and the trees are covered with frost on cold days. This time, there had been warm weather for several days, and the night before a fog was rising above the river. Since this place is not far from my house, I am there often. The night before, I planned a morning walk with my camera. The time when the meteor hit is the typical time when landscape photographers take pictures. If it had come half an hour earlier or later, I would not have been shooting pictures and would not have captured these shots.

What went through your mind when you saw the flying meteor?

Everything happened in slow-motion. At first, it was a glowing dot with a black center and a red outline. It was getting closer very fast. Initially it seemed like this object was flying directly at me. I cannot describe it; it is impossible because nothing in the world can be compared to the size, speed, and brightness of this object.

Were you afraid?

At first I felt euphoric because of what I saw. It was spectacular! But later my euphoria changed to a feeling of fear of the unknown. Despite all the signs that this object came from beyond Earth, I initially thought it was something man-made, that it was a nuclear bomb. That is probably why I was afraid, afraid mostly for my family. Later I remembered that an asteroid was scheduled to fly very close to Earth, but that didn’t make me any more optimistic.* Since the asteroid was reported to be of truly gigantic proportions, the consequences of it hitting the Earth would be worse than a nuclear bomb.

How did you take pictures of it, was it hard to focus the camera on such a bright object?

Taking landscape photographs is a slowly paced, thoughtful business... So when an object like this suddenly appeared out of the blue, it completely disoriented me, I practically forgot how to take pictures. I was looking at the viewfinder and the camera display, and everything was as if in a fog. The first few shots were done without changing any of the settings... My biggest impression was of the bright light. At a certain point, everything seemed to be filled with light. Also, I was dumbfounded by the size of the meteor. That ball of light was truly huge. Many videos on the Internet filmed the meteor with dashcams, which have a 180-degree angle camera eye and don’t accurately portray the true scope of the phenomenon as it was seen by people on the ground.

What happened later, did you hear the explosions many people describe; was there any effect from them on the landscape surrounding you?

A few minutes after the meteor hit, there was a series of blasts. The first was the biggest one, the ones that came later were more like a receding echo. The explosions sounded like a giant drum – they were clear and powerful; they were not like blasts of artillery or fireworks. I didn’t have any physical sensations. The surrounding landscape also remained unchanged – the trees continued to stand, the river continued to flow, the rising sun gave off a red glow on the horizon. Only startled birds rose above the pine forest and flew in different directions.

When did you find out it was a meteor?

I only understood that I had seen a meteor after a few days, when there was enough information for analysis and identification of this object.*

Are you happy with your pictures and with your experience?

As a photographer, I am only happy with the last few shots, the ones made with more awareness. The first pictures I took have more historical value for me. Without a doubt, I am happy with the experience.

* Another meteor did pass close to Earth on the same day, but it was going in the opposite direction. That this one approached from the sun, from East to West is the main reason it arrived unannounced. The meteor arrived at 9:20 am local time, on February 15, 2013.

* Russian Life reader Rob Landis, who happens to be the Near Earth Object program officer at NASA, helped link us up to Marat and provided valuable information about the meteor, for instance that it weighed an estimated 7-10,000 metric tons and its explosion 24 km above Earth had an energy impact of approximately 470 kilotons – roughly equivalent to that of a Trident II nuclear missile.