Asteroid impact

An asteroid impact is a collision between an asteroid and a larger body. The collision converts kinetic energy into heat, shock waves, and ejecta, sometimes leaving an impact crater.

Impact cratering: The formation of a crater when a high-speed object strikes a planetary surface. It describes the excavation and collapse that turn an impact into a recognizable landform.
Chicxulub impactor: The asteroid or comet fragment whose impact formed the Chicxulub crater about 66 million years ago. Its collision is linked to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event: The mass extinction about 66 million years ago that eliminated non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. The Chicxulub impact is the leading explanation for this abrupt global biological crisis.
Impact crater: A roughly circular depression or structure formed when a high-speed object strikes a planetary surface. Craters are the most visible geological record of impacts on solid worlds.
Comet impact: A collision between a comet and a larger body, releasing energy and debris. Comets can produce similar effects, but differ from asteroids in composition and typical orbit.
Impact ejecta: Material expelled from a surface during an impact, including fragmented rock and impact-melted debris. The collision launches target material beyond the crater, sometimes across a planet.
Tunguska event: A 1908 atmospheric explosion over Siberia that flattened a vast area of forest without leaving a confirmed crater. It illustrates how an asteroid can devastate a region while breaking up above the ground.
Impact winter: A prolonged cooling episode caused when impact debris and aerosols reduce sunlight reaching a planet's surface. A sufficiently large impact can darken and cool the atmosphere, disrupting food webs.
Shocked quartz: Quartz containing microscopic deformation features produced by extremely high pressure. Its distinctive structures provide evidence of ancient impacts on Earth.
Volcanic crater: A depression formed by volcanic activity, such as an eruption or collapse above a magma chamber. Volcanic craters can resemble impact structures but form through different processes.

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