# So, about this whole Chicxulub mess **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521 "2019-10-26T21:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/1 "2019-10-26T21:01:59Z")
I recently ran across some interesting stats. The Chicxulub meteor hit the earth at a 27-degree angle … … coming out of the southeast (and going northwest, obviously) … … at about 45,000 mph. That got me to wondering: If we were there to see it coming, how long would have been streaking across the sky? I’m thinking it was going that fast we would have had only a one- or two-second warning. In the movies, meteors hitting the earth always give us a good long look before all the destruction. Any Straight-dopers know how to do the math? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/2 "2019-10-26T21:32:35Z")
The atmosphere gets pretty darn thin above 10 miles or so, but let’s be generous and say the meteor will make a trail starting at 20 miles up (that’s probably a bit too generous). At an angle of 27 degrees, the meteor is going to go through roughly 44 miles of atmosphere before hitting the Earth. At 45,000 miles per hour, that works out to about 3 1/2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/3 "2019-10-26T21:37:13Z")
I did some googling and my estimation was way off. According to The Google, meteors start to burn up around 60 miles up, not 20. So multiply everything by 3 and you end up with about 10 1/2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/4 "2019-10-26T21:39:59Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > So multiply everything by 3 and you end up with about 10 1/2 seconds. Not enough time for an alarm signal from a sauropod’s brain to reach the tip of its tail.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/5 "2019-10-27T01:00:46Z")
How does one pronounce “Chicxulub”? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/6 "2019-10-27T01:20:19Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How does one pronounce “Chicxulub”? Just the way it’s spelled.😉 Seriously, it seems to be CHIK-su-lub. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/7 "2019-10-27T02:44:56Z")
The above discusses the asteroid’s trail through the atmosphere, which, if there has been any humans around at the time, would have been the first obvious sign that something very unusual was happening. But if those humans had been knowledgeable astronomers with star maps, according to a recent article on the subject the asteroid would have been visible to the naked eye about 60 hours prior to impact, appearing as a star where no star should have been. It would then have been seen to be slowly and then more rapidly brightening over the course of those two and a half fateful days, until it finally hit the atmosphere and flashed into brilliant light. The article (_The Day the Dinosaurs Died_, by Douglas Preston, in the _New Yorker_) describes what models tell us likely happened next: Within two minutes of slamming into Earth, the asteroid, which was at least six miles wide, had gouged a crater about eighteen miles deep and lofted twenty-five trillion metric tons of debris into the atmosphere … When Earth’s crust rebounded, a peak higher than Mt. Everest briefly rose up. The energy released was more than that of a billion Hiroshima bombs … Much of the [ejected] material was several times hotter than the surface of the sun, and it set fire to everything within a thousand miles … countless red-hot blobs of glass called tektites … blanketed the Western Hemisphere … The article goes on to say that some of the ejecta escaped the earth’s gravity and went into orbit around the sun, some of it eventually strewn on other planets and moons in the solar system, particularly Mars. Tens of thousands of pounds of debris may have landed on Titan, Europa, and Callisto, where it’s remotely possible that still-living microbes may have spawned the beginning of life there. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/8 "2019-10-27T03:38:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Just the way it’s spelled.😉 > > Seriously, it seems to be CHIK-su-lub. – with that “u” as in English “put”, or even English “oo”, rather than as in “cubs” (e.g. I’d read it something like “CHIK-ssoo-loob”) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/9 "2019-10-27T03:41:32Z")
It is important to say it right the first time, because there won’t be enough time for a do-over. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/10 "2019-10-27T03:51:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How does one pronounce “Chicxulub”? Obviously the word is Maya Yucateca. But it makes no sense. The Spanish didn’t know how to write Maya. Or couldn’t write it as they heard it. I don’t know how to write it with the fancy stuff above the letters. So, I will write it phonetically. CH’- this will have a real short pronunciation with a gloterral ending. Real abrupt. ik- like eek (“i” short vowel) shoe- like footwear lube- like the oil change people. CH’ikxulub Translating from Maya, would be “flea of the dragon”. Which is the name of a village on the peninsula that was close to the impact. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/11 "2019-10-27T13:45:24Z")
To somewhat expound on the above answer, Wikipedia gives the pronunciation as /ˈtʃiːkʃʊluːb/ in English, which would most closely correspond to CHEEK-shuh-lube" with the “shuh” containing the same vowel as “put” in most American accents. Back in the day, we’d write it out something like CHEEK-sho͝o-lube phoenetically. The Mayan pronunciation is listed as /tʃʼikʃuluɓ/, which is slightly different (the “i” and “u” vowels are shorter, and bother "u"s are pronounced with an “oo” [as in “boo” or “moo”]rather than “o͝o” [and in “cook” or “book” or “put”] sound.) Of course, your dialect pronunciations may vary, so if my plain English examples don’t work in your dialect, that’s why it’s nice to have some familiarity with IPA. At any rate, when you see an “x” in a Mayan or Nahuatl word, it usually represents the “sh” sound (at least as far as I’ve always seen, like in Uxmal, or the salsa xni-pec; I think in some Nahutl words it sounds closer to “ch” when used as an initial consonant, but it’s hard for me to tell.) ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/12 "2019-10-27T17:34:07Z")
My only familiarity with IPA is the beer. With regards to xni’pek, it is definitely Maya Yucateca. Pronunciation would be: ish’ ni Pek’. (short vowel "i) and pek, like a peck of apples. Though not heard often, it translates as nose of the dog. Because the salsa is picante, it causes the nose to run. And it is moist like a dog’s. Staying with my translation of CH’ xulub. Needs to have the separation after CH. I am sure Wiki is trying. But because it is Maya Yucateca, Wiki maybe be on another page. Granted. I know little, but I am a Maya Yucateca teacher here in the Peninsula. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/13 "2019-10-27T19:29:04Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Obviously the word is Maya Yucateca. But it makes no sense. The Spanish didn’t know how to write Maya. Or couldn’t write it as they heard it. > > I don’t know how to write it with the fancy stuff above the letters. So, I will write it phonetically. > > CH’- this will have a real short pronunciation with a gloterral ending. Real abrupt. > > ik- like eek (“i” short vowel) > > shoe- like footwear > > lube- like the oil change people. > > CH’ikxulub > > Translating from Maya, would be “flea of the dragon”. > Which is the name of a village on the peninsula that was close to the impact. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/14 "2019-10-28T14:57:03Z")
Pronounced, “Throatwobbler Mangrove.” You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/15 "2019-10-28T15:42:59Z")
For the last seconds of the meteor’s flight, it would have been too bright for you to look at, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/16 "2019-10-28T16:06:03Z")
For the last seconds of the meteor’s flight you would be too dead to look at it, having been shattered and roasted by the massive leading shockwave. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/17 "2019-10-28T21:45:02Z")
[The Aztecs, who kept domesticated turkeys for hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived, had a perfectly good word for the bird in their Nahuatl language: xuehxolotl, which, of course, is pronounced. Don’t ask me how it’s pronounced, but I’m sure it can be done.](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1972/is-turkey-the-bird-named-after-turkey-the-country-or-vice-versa/) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/18 "2019-10-30T16:15:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [The Aztecs, who kept domesticated turkeys for hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived, had a perfectly good word for the bird in their Nahuatl language: xuehxolotl, which, of course, is pronounced. Don’t ask me how it’s pronounced, but I’m sure it can be done.](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1972/is-turkey-the-bird-named-after-turkey-the-country-or-vice-versa/) That also makes me wonder if 500 years later modern Nahualt speakers may or may not pronounce xuehxolotl exactly as their forebears. Spanish-speaking Mexicans adapted it and say “guajolote”. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/19 "2019-10-30T17:22:58Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > In the movies, meteors hitting the earth always give us a good long look before all the destruction. That has always vexed me as well, even documentaries that claim to be accurate depict it that way. It is simply wrong, as has been well calculated by **engineer\_comp\_geek** on his second try. A ten km asteroid hits the ground while the upper part is just inside the atmosphere and it is so fast you don’t want to be near the event without sunglasses. Nice to know somebody else is also troubled by this ubiquitous inaccuracy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521/20 "2019-10-30T20:50:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [The Aztecs, who kept domesticated turkeys for hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived, had a perfectly good word for the bird in their Nahuatl language: xuehxolotl, which, of course, is pronounced. Don’t ask me how it’s pronounced, but I’m sure it can be done.](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1972/is-turkey-the-bird-named-after-turkey-the-country-or-vice-versa/) ‘xuehxolotl’ - seems vaguely onomatopaeic, so maybe even ‘gobble gobble’ might pass for pronunciation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-this-whole-chicxulub-mess/842521.md?page=2)