Photos

In southeastern Mongolia, roughly halfway between Ulaanbaatar and Beijing, lies an ancient crater. Tabun Khara Obo was first identified as a probable impact crater in 1976, but confirmation did not occurr until decades later. Drilling at the site in 2008 revealed rock features consistent with high-speed impacts such as those caused by meteorites. The dark, irregularly shaped area in the lower right corner of the image is vegetation along a river channel. Photo courtesy of NASA.