Asteroid That Led to Dinosaur Extinction Hit at 'Deadliest Possible' Angle, Researchers Say

New research has been found suggesting that the asteroid which led to the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago hit Earth at the "deadliest possible" angle.

The conclusions were made by Professor Gareth Collins, who works at Imperial College London in their Department of Earth Science and Engineering, and his team of researchers in a study published on May 26 in the scientific journal, Nature Communications.

Using 3D numerical simulations and geophysical data from the site of the asteroid, the scientists were able to determine how the crater — known as Chicxulub — struck the Earth at an angle of about 60 degrees, which maximized the amount of climate-changing gases to enter the atmosphere.

As billions of tons of sulfur released in the air and blocked the sun, a lethal "nuclear winter" occurred and wiped out dinosaurs entirely, as well as 75 percent of life on Earth, the report stated.

"For the dinosaurs, the worst-case scenario is exactly what happened," Collins said in a statement on the college's website. "The asteroid strike unleashed an incredible amount of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere, triggering a chain of events that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This was likely worsened by the fact that it struck at one of the deadliest possible angles."

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"Our simulations provide compelling evidence that the asteroid struck at a steep angle, perhaps 60 degrees above the horizon, and approached its target from the north-east," Collins went on. "We know that this was among the worst-case scenarios for the lethality on impact because it put more hazardous debris into the upper atmosphere and scattered it everywhere – the very thing that led to a nuclear winter."

According to Imperial College's website, their team of researchers, plus scientists from the University of Freiburg and the University of Texas at Austin, began by studying the shape and structure of Chicxulub, which is currently located in Mexico.

They later looked at geophysical data and simulated the event on the computer, which helped determine what direction and speed the real asteroid came in from — horizontally, at 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) per second — as well as what angle it struck the Earth.

"Despite being buried beneath nearly a kilometer of sedimentary rocks, it is remarkable that geophysical data reveals so much about the crater structure - enough to describe the direction and angle of the impact," report co-author, Dr. Auriol Rae from the University of Freiburg, explained in a statement to Imperial College.

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As it turns out, the circumstances around the impact were rather ideal because they released as much vapor into the air as possible, Collins told New Scientist.

Had the asteroid come in from directly overhead, it likely would have destroyed more rock and released fewer gases into the atmosphere, according to Collins.

"It's sort of a perfect storm," he explained to the outlet. "This was a very bad day for the dinosaurs, and the more special the circumstances that had to come together to cause this event, the less likely that it'll happen again."

His fellow researchers also echoed those sentiments, pointing out that this new study can further develop the understanding of large craters on other planets.

"Large craters like Chicxulub are formed in a matter of minutes, and involve a spectacular rebound of rock beneath the crater," study co-author, Dr. Thomas Davison from Imperial College, said in a statement.

"Our findings could help advance our understanding of how this rebound can be used to diagnose details of the impacting asteroid," Davison added.