The Knoxville News Sentinel interviewed Joshua Emery, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, about the 10-ton meteor that broke into pieces over Russia. Emery said the astronomical event is not terribly uncommon. “Something like what happened in Russia happens once a decade or so somewhere on Earth, but most of the time it goes into the ocean or places where no one living and no one is really seeing it to cause any problems or have any effect,” Emery said. Emery, who studies asteroids, their composition and their orbit, said meteors of that size come into the Earth’s orbit roughly once every 10 years.