* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Lonar Crater

Blobrana · L

Many temples and monumental structures exist at Lonar but most are in dilapidated condition. The worth mentioning are Limbi barav kunda of Chalukya time. Some of them were of Yadav times and Hemadpant style of Architecture; the others are Ram Gaya temple, Vishnu temples, Mahadeva Temples, Goddess Kamalaja temple, Maroti temple, Brahma-Vishnu temple, Kartikeya temple, Jain temple and Daitya-Sudan temple (Khajuraho style), Shukracharya observatory. Lonar was called as Dakshina Dwar (Gate to south India) during Ashoka's time. Some say that salt production was done there during Akbar time.
Mysteries at Lonar: The lake water is saline (sodium chloride, carbonate, fluoride) and highly alkaline (pH reported as 11) due to perennial streams. Sita nahani (it is believed Sita took bath there-at) has sweet water where pilgrims usually like to bathe. Two more small craters exist - Ambar (now in dilapidated state) and Ganesh lakes of 300 m diameter are believed to have originated from impact of small pieces of meteorite probably split from the main body which has probably gone 600 m deep in the earth but no evidence yet reported according to some scientists.
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Blobrana · L

India is trying to secure a world heritage status for its only lake formed by the impact of a meteorite.
But pollution and human activity, are threatening the existence of the ancient water body.
More than 50,000 years old, the Lonar Lake in western state of Maharashtra has intrigued scientists for years.
The lake is one of the three in the world that's formed by the impact of a meteor.
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Blobrana · L

Lonar Lake in Buldana district of Maharashtra, the only meteor-impact crater in the world in basaltic rock that contains salt water, is uniquely important for astrogeologists in that it serves as the best analogy for them in their study of Martian geology. This was first reported by The Indian Express in 2005, when scientists connected to NASA had come to study the crater.
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Blobrana · L

The lake in Lonar village of Buldhana district in the Marathwada region was created by a meteor hitting the Earth during the Pleistocene epoch.
The creation of the lake is considered to be about 50,000 years ago. Life and its ecosystem developed after 25,000 years thereafter.
Earlier, it was thought to have been created due to volcanic activity. Now, it has been proved to be a meteor impact crater, the only one of its kind in India
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Blobrana · L

In Lonar, key to curb methane emissions?

Researchers from India and the UK have identified the active presence of several 'methane-eating' bacteria at the Lonar meteor impact crater lake in Buldhana (Maharashtra), which can offer hope for controlling global warming.
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Blobrana · L

Lonar Lake

Blobrana · L

RE: Lonar Crater

Blobrana · L

City-based Khagol Vishwa group will take students from Pune on a study tour to the Lonar meteorite crater in Buldana district in the first week of April.
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Blobrana · L

I spent an afternoon hiking around the Lonar Crater where a meteorite weighing two million tonnes and travelling at 90,000 kilometres per hour crashed into the earth about 50,000 years ago. It left a hole about 1,800 metres wide and 150 metres deep. Over time a dense saline lake has formed in the hole.
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