Temperature shading for a three-dimensional simulation of a Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary type impact cratering event, in which an asteroid struck the Earth 65 Million years ago. The image shows the simulation five seconds after impact. Impact velocity is 20 km/sec, angle of impact is 45 degrees (impactor coming from the left). Temperature varies from about 200K (blue) to around 10000K (Red). This simulation was carried out by PSI's Elisabetta Pierazzo and colleagues (Pierazzo and Melosh 2000). Click on the image to see the corresponding image depicting the different materials used in the model.