Photos

Klingon warbird shadows flow across the floor of Meteor Crater.

Meteor Crater is located between Flagstaff and Winslow and is 5 miles south of the I-40 interstate highway.

About 50,000 years ago the crater was formed when a meteor about 150 feet in diameter and weighing approximately 300,000 tons arrived in Earth's atmosphere. About half of its mass burned up before it struck the ground at a speed of 26,800 miles/hour. The impact left a crater that is about a mile in diameter and 570 feet deep.

What surprises many vistors is the amount of debris displaced by the impact as, from a distance, instead of a hole in the ground the site looks like a low hill.

To provide a sense of proportion, hear the center of the crater's floor you can see some white areas, one having what appears to be a large, black, rock to its left. In the workshop I have that white area photographed with a 300mm lens. The "astronaut" on the fence is 6 feet tall and the flag is 3 feet by 5 feet.

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ISO 200, f/18 at 1/200th second, 16mm focal length