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Impact event
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
Meteor Crater Hellas impact basin on Mars Vredefort Dome impact structure Map of the northern Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico highlighting the location and circular outline of the Chicxulub crater, which is about 180 kilometers in diameter and partly extends into the Gulf of Mexico. The map also shows nearby cities such as Merida, Cancun, Campeche, and Playa del Carmen, as well as international borders with Belize and Guatemala. An inset globe marks the region's location in the Americas. Chicxulub impact crater Aftermath of the Tunguska event A thick, white meteorite contrail stretches across the sky above buildings and trees in the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia. A logarithmic graph shows the average interval between Earth impacts by near-Earth objects of different diameters, plotting frequency in years against object size and kinetic energy. Markers highlight the Tunguska and Chicxulub events, with a shaded area indicating the global catastrophe threshold.
DART spacecraft: asteroid crash
debris blasted from Dimorphos

Impact event: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Karen Sottosanti
    Karen Sottosanti is a writer and editor who works in educational publishing. 
  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Article title updated for style. Nov 09, 2026
Added media. Sep 29, 2026
Added material about the DART test changing Dimorphos's shape. Mar 04, 2024
Changed “methods of preventing NEOs” to “methods of planetary defense, that is, preventing NEOs.” Feb 23, 2023
Added a video of DART's collision with Dimorphos and a photograph of Dimorphos. Oct 18, 2022
Added material about DART's impact on Dimorphos. Oct 14, 2022
New article added. Sep 01, 2022
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