Question: My family will be visiting Arizona later this year, and my daughter really wants to see Meteor Crater. It’s a bit off our planned route, and I’m wondering if it’s worth the detour? — ML, Topeka, KS
Answer: Absolutely! Any photos you see of Meteor Crater (even from directly above) do not compare to the in-person experience. I photographed this poorly-composed panorama when I first visited, and stitched it together with an image editor years ago. Apologies for the quality. I was just getting started with digital photography.
To give you a sense of scale, here’s some numbers on this National Natural Landmark. The crater is 1200 m (3/4 mile) in diameter, and roughly 170 m (560 ft) deep. Its rim, thrown upward by the impact, rises 45 m (148 ft) above the surrounding plains. The center of the crater is filled with 200 m (660 ft) of rubble from erosion since the impact.
The impact occurred around 50,000 years ago. Based on fragments found around the crater, it was a iron-nickel meteorite with a 90% iron content, and a density of 7–8 g/cm3. It’s been dubbed the Canyon Diablo meteorite for the name of the closest settlement to where it was discovered. The meteor (which is what it is called before it strikes the ground and becomes a meteorite) was probably 50 m (160 ft) in diameter, and was moving at an estimated speed of 12–20 km/s (7.5–12.5 miles/sec)! The impact released an amount of energy equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT. The sound of the impact would have been heard from thousands of miles away.
Meteor Crater is also called Barringer Crater. Mining engineer and businessman Daniel M. Barringer suspected that the crater had been produced by the impact of a large iron meteorite. The theory that the crater was of meteoric origin had been met with skepticism, but he bought the land around it seeking to uncover a mother lode of iron that he could sell on the market. Alas, except for the tens of thousand of fragments scattered around the strewn field, over 90% of the meteor vaporized on impact with bedrock, and was dissipated across the landscape as “iron dust.” Barringer drilled several exploratory holes but never found a mother lode.
Some of his drilling rigs, and other labs added subsequently, are still preserved at the bottom of the crater. Here’s a shot that would’ve been better with a telephoto lens:
Unfortunately, unless you’re a scientist engaged in active research, you can’t hike down to the bottom. The slopes are unstable and there’s still active research being done. But there are hiking tours around the rim and other exhibits to enjoy.
The visitor center lobby has a display featuring the Holsinger Meteorite, a fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite that’s primarily composed of kamacite, a heavy iron-nickel alloy. It weighs in at 638 kg (1409 pounds). Visitors are permitted to touch it, but don’t try to lift it:
So yes, take your daughter to see Meteor Crater. It will open her eyes to new phenomena and possibly spark a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). America needs more STEM.
Next Week in Sky Lights ⇒ The Cheapest Ticket to Zero Gravity