Scientists finally find where the object that wiped out the dinosaurs came from

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The mass extinction event that occurred 66 million years ago – the most recent on Earth – came about when a rare kind of asteroid collided with Earth, researchers say. Researchers believe that it led to a horrific period in the planet’s history, during which its planets were lit on fire, the Earth was covered in ash and the climate would have turned deadly. There, a C-type asteroid formed that would give rise to what scientists call the Chicxulub impactor, which crashed into Earth and left the vast crater after which it is named. They also looked at samples from five other asteroid impacts taken in the last 541 million years, as well as ancient remnants from impacts billions of years ago.