Early estimates of the energy of the air burst range from 10–15 megatons of TNT (42–63 PJ), to 30 megatons of TNT (130 PJ), depending on the exact height of burst estimated when the scaling-laws from the effects of nuclear weapons are employed. However, modern supercomputer calculations that include the effect of the object's momentum estimate that the airburst had an energy range from 3 to 5 megatons of TNT (13 to 21 PJ), and that more of this energy was focused downward than would be the case from a nuclear explosion.
In 2010, an expedition led by Vladimir Alexeev with scientists from the Troitsk Innovation and Nuclear Research Institute (TRINITY) used ground penetrating radar to examine the Suslov crater at the Tunguska site. What they found was that the crater was created by the violent impact of a celestial body. The layers of the crater consisted of modern permafrost on top, older damaged layers underneath, and finally, deep below, fragments of the celestial body were discovered. Preliminary analysis showed that it was a huge piece of ice that shattered on impact, which seem to support the theory that a comet caused the cataclysm. In contrast, in 2013, analysis of fragments from the Tunguska site by a joint US-European team was consistent with an iron meteorite
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posted 2850 days ago