CAIRO: A crater has been discovered in Egypt on the border with Sudan and Libya as a result of Google Earth views. The Kamil Crater was viewed via Google Earth and is believed to be only a few thousand years old. According to scientists, the 50-feet deep and 150-feet wide crater is one of the most well preserved sites ever found. Google Earth, which has satellite imagery of the entire planet, was responsible for the crater's discovery and has archaeologists in Egypt hopeful that other ancient sites can be found via the mapping system. “It is amazing that Google Earth was the one responsible for discovering something like this,” Ahmed Taha, an Egyptologist with the Egyptian government, told Bikya Masr on Wednesday. “You would think that with all the hi-tech gadgets governments have these days, it could have been found sooner.” According to Detlef Koschny, speaking to Britain's Telegraph newspaper, “the crater is certainly less than ten thousand years old and potentially less than a few thousand. “The impact may even have been observed by humans, and archaeological investigations at nearby ancient settlements may help fix the date.” The crater was discovered by Google Earth in 2008, but it wasn't until February of this year that scientists were able to examine the Kamil Crater more closely. The National Institute of Astrophysics believe that the meteor, which weighed about ten tons, was traveling at more than 7,500 mph when it struck the earth. According to the European Space Agency, the expedition to investigate the Kamil crater will help the world prepare for future meteor impacts. “The data gathered during the expedition will be very useful to ESA's Space Situational Awareness program's activities for risk assessment of small asteroids with orbits that approach Earth,” a statement from the space agency said. BM
