A pristine meteor crater undiscovered until it was spotted on Google Earth may help scientists determine the risks of further potentially catastrophic impacts.
The Kamil crater, which is 52 feet deep and almost 150 feet wide, is deep within the Egyptian desert, and was unknown until it was seen on Google Earth.
Caused by a ten-tonne chunk of iron travelling at more than 7,500mph, it is one of the best preserved sites ever found.
The impact would have generated a fireball seen more then 620 miles away, and scientists believe it is relatively young – potentially less than a few thousand years old.
This means it may have been seen by early humans, although no human record exists of its impact.
The crater was spotted in the border region between Egypt, Sudan and Libya in 2008 by mineralologist Vincenzo De Michele, then with the Civico Museo di Storia Naturale in Milan, Italy.
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