Will an Asteroid Hit the Earth?
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One big rock could wipe out our planet
Do you like living dangerously? Well, you don't have much choice. In the game of cosmic billiards, the cue ball is headed our way - sooner or later!
It’s been theorized that an asteroid only a half-mile in diameter could destroy civilization on Earth, and hundreds of such rocks are out there in space, many of them crossing the Earth’s orbit, perhaps right this minute. Did you see that one the other day? It missed us by a whisker!
In June 2011, a bus-sized chunk of real estate missed the Earth by only 7,500 miles. If this asteroid had hit the Earth, it would have blown a sizable crater in the ground, perhaps injuring or killing some hapless folks as well. And earlier in 2011, a somewhat smaller asteroid missed the Earth by only 3,400 miles!
Are you nervous yet? You should be. Everybody should. If a big enough rock hit the Earth, the climate could be disrupted so severely that plants wouldn’t grow for years or even decades. Now there’s food for thought!
Now let’s look further into the subject of asteroids colliding with the Earth and see if there’s something we can do about this potentially devastating possibility. Please read on.
Types of Asteroids
There are three types of asteroids. Main Belt Asteroids are the ones revolving around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Theory has it these asteroids – millions of them, in fact - are the remnants of a protoplanetary disk that didn’t quite come together as a planet. The largest such asteroid is Ceres, which is about 600 miles in diameter and considered a dwarf planet like Pluto. The second largest asteroid in the Belt is Vesta.
Trojan Asteroids follow planets around but rarely collide with them. The most common Trojans are the ones that follow Jupiter. There may be millions of these types of asteroids as well.
Near-Earth Asteroids (or NEA’s) are the ones we should worry about. These potential killers have orbits that take them near the Earth; some even cross the orbit of the planet. These are known as Earth-crossers. As of 2010, over 7,000 NEA’s are known to exist, and as many as 1,000 of them could be as much as a kilometer (.62 miles) in diameter.
Any one of these NEA’s could have the Earth’s name on it. Of course, the ones we don’t even know about may pose a much deadlier risk!
The Dinosaur Killer Asteroid
About 65 million years ago an asteroid stuck the Earth that may have brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs. (Some scientists think continental drift snuffed the dinos, but that’s the subject of another article.) Scientists may have spotted the resultant hole in the ground, the so-called Chicxulub Crater just north of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
It’s been estimated that this immense asteroid was six to 10 miles in diameter, roughly the size of Mt. Everest. When it landed in the ocean, it caused mega-tsunamis thousands of meters high. (Try to imagine this scene.) If an asteroid this size struck the Earth today, it could possibly wipe out the entire human species!
Meteor Crater in Arizona
If you want to see what happens when an asteroid hits the Earth, then take a look at Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. (An asteroid becomes a meteor as it burns white hot in the atmosphere.) About 50,000 years ago, an asteroid struck the Earth, leaving this crater, which is about 4,000 feet in diameter and 150 feet deep. Made of nickel and iron, the asteroid that blasted out this hole in the ground was about 50 meters (54 yards) across. The energy of the impact has been estimated at 10 megatons.
You wouldn’t have wanted to be within a 100 miles of this hot spot!
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
In July 1994, people discovered what happens when an asteroid slams into a planet. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was actually a comet, which is simply an asteroid with ice on it. As the comet orbited the planet Jupiter, it broke into smaller parts, all of which eventually fell into the planet, releasing incredible amounts of kinetic energy. The largest chunk, fragment G (about a mile across), struck Jupiter with the equivalent force of 6 million megatons of TNT, 600 times the world’s nuclear arsenal, the impact creating a dark cloud the size of the Earth!
As an aside, it’s a good thing Jupiter is out there “vacuuming up” comets and asteroids before they have a chance to the hit the Earth; otherwise, life may not have gotten a foothold on this planet because of the nearly constant bombardment over millions of years!
Tunguska Event
Nobody knows for sure what it was, but an object from space exploded over the Tunguska region in Siberia in June 1908. Most experts believe it was a rocky asteroid or comet, about 90 yards across, which detonated some 5 miles above the surface of the Earth, the explosion flattening over 800 square miles of pine forest. If the Tunguska Event had happened over one of Earth’s mega cities, it would be similar to a 30-megaton nuclear bomb exploding in the air, likely incinerating millions of people within seconds!
Co-founder of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Eugene Shoemaker estimated that a Tunguska-like event occurs on Earth every 300 years.
Apophis
Out in space is an asteroid that may Earth in its crosshairs. Apophis, an 800-foot chunk of rock (much larger than the Tunguska impactor), will approach the earth in 2029; and if it passes through what’s called a gravitational keyhole, then it could strike the Earth in 2036. However, the odds are very small that it will ever collide with our planet – about one in 250,000. At any rate, such an asteroid probably wouldn’t end civilization, but it could destroy any city on Earth!
Some Russian scientists caution that even if Apophis misses the Earth, it could break into many smaller parts, any of which could strike the planet.
Other NEA’s
Asteroid 2011 CQ1, which missed the Earth by only 3,400 miles in early 2011, could strike the Earth when it returns in 2022. This is not a big asteroid, but Asteroid 2005 YU55, a 1,300-foot monster, passed within 200,000 miles of the earth on November 8, 2011. If it had hit the earth, it would have blasted a crater more than four times the size of Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. Whew! That was a close one!
What Can We Do?
Just about any scientist will tell you that it’s only a matter of time before the Earth is struck by an asteroid large enough to cause massive damage and loss of life. What can we do about such an eventuality? Not much. But keep in the mind that there are many agencies that watch for asteroids. Chances are any asteroid miles across will be spotted months if not years before it can strike the earth, which would give agencies such as NASA and the U.S. military plenty of time to change the trajectory of the asteroid or destroy it.
But when NEA’s hundreds of feet across come around, there may be little warning. Just hope you’re not in the path of this lethal thing from space. Yet it will hit somewhere, and the most likely worldwide result will be a reduction in food production due to the massive amount of debris blown into the atmosphere. This sunlight blocking scenario would make food prices skyrocket. So, if possible, be prepared for that, however you can. (Food prices may jump skyward anyway, but that’s the subject of another article.) =[
Please leave a comment.
Here are some links to agencies watching for asteroids: http://neat.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/ and http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/
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Kosmo, a scary but real threat to our planet. Some common threat like this might even get the attention of the rest of the world and cause us to get along for a while. Maybe even get the rich folks to pay some of the taxes needed to fund a project to save the planet. In any event our cosmic Karma will be played out sooner or later. Thanks Kosmo, Peter
You trying to scare us Kosmo?
Well I don't know much about these things, but it is apparent it has happened before. I don't want it to happen again. If it does it might be devastation. I guess we just have to wait and see, not sure what mankind can do about it.
We average 1 major asteroid or meteor impact roughly every 100 years with the last being the Tunguska event. We are overdue for another any time now. The "sky is falling" may not be too far off! LOL!
Randy
Very interesting, but I admit that I do not spend time worrying or being nervous over things beyond my control -- like asteroid collisions and economic collapses. Why waste the energy? Not like I'll be spared no matter how much I fret over it, so let's just say que sera.
Thanks very much for the comments, everyone! I agree that we're certainly overdue for another asteroid strike, though it may not happen for decades or centuries. I also agree with Immartin that it doesn't do much good to worry about such dire possibilities, when we have no control over it. However, it may not hurt to stockpile some food. At the very least, you could sell it for a profit in the coming years. Later!
Agree with PETER LUMETTA may be it may induce rich to contribute more for saving earth and finally themselves. lol.
It is a scary threat Kosmo - I think it's bound to happen eventually. Hopefully we will have enough warning to prepare!
The U.S. should have the means for dealing with asteroids. Retiring the space shuttle may not have been such a good idea. At any rate, let's hope we have more than hours to prepare . . . ! Later!
Very nicely done....it is a good thing that the earth has Bruce Willis and Robert Duvall to save the earth....lol...actually pretty scary stuff. I found your hub both interesting and informative....voted up and useful.
Thanks for the comment, Cogerson. Yes, we do have Bruce Willis and Robert Duvall, but wouldn't Captain America do a better job? Superman is better equiped as well. Later!
Hi, fascinating stuff, my brother has always said this is the way the Earth will end, seems he was telling the truth! lol cheers nell
It's an interesting hub!Like it.
Thanks for the comment, HomerMCho. Don't let the rock fall on your head. Later!
The has certainly to come and that would be Armageddon. There's a possibility of an asteroid hitting the earth's surface. There's some news around that china has already started working on a way to blast off the asteroid in the atmosphere it self.
Hey, seocoursemumbai, I haven't heard of China's program for deflecting asteroids. I'll have to watch for it. Thanks for the comment. Later!
anything is possible,i hope will not hit sooooooooooooon
Yes, emin3nt, let's hope the big rock doesn't fall on us any time soon. Later!
This will be a very close call i pray it is only that. Discovered on December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program A potentially hazardous Asteroid known as 2005 YU55. This Asteroid some what Large 400 meter-sized type – C, will pass by the Earth right between our moon and Earth. On November 8, 2011.
The people on Earth have not seen a Asteroid of this size in advance. One this big Has not impacted Earth in over at least 4 thousand years. Most Objects that have a diameters over 45 meters or 147.637 ft strike the Earth approximately once every thousand years or so. Lying flat everything for hundreds of miles. Like the TUNGUSKA 1908 SIBERIA, RUSSIA CRASH OR Tunguska Explosion. This one did not even hit the Earth with its full Impact, it burst high in the air above the ground plowing it apart into many smaller parts. Making thousands of very deep holes in the Russian forests. Many of them in dense forest far from any roads or towns.
One 400 Meters 1,312.3 ft in diameter like this one YU55 weighing millions of tons would if impacted Earth on land would darken all of the Earth not for just days but much longer. It would change the weather not seen on Earth in over thousands of years a massive climate change to say the least.
The World and NASA will watch this one very closely.
The Lord’s Little Helper
Paul Felix Schott
Thanks for the comment and edifying data, Paul Felix Schott. I wrote about asteroid 2005 YU55 in my article. Hold onto your hats, folks, this could be a close call. Later! (I hope.)
good website 2 look @ and if you are frightened by it u should be. if an asteroid does hit earth RUN 4 YOUR LIFE! your other choice is 2 die and you will not have a life anymore your life not mine guys 4 your own good mate
Hello, Great article. I also believe its a matter of when. I'm glad that YU55 was not the one, although I believe it was close. Thanks for sharing so much info.
Thanks for the comment, Cyndi10. Yes, I'm very glad YU55 didn't hit the earth. That big rock could have caused a catastrophe. Later!
Yep, we are indeed overdue for a hit, Kosmo! Some think the megafauna and Clovis culture may have been destroyed by some type of explosion over the Americas which caused widespread wildfires wiping out many of the huge animals and the predators which fed on them.
A fascinating subject which will no doubt be added to in the future. Good read!
Thanks for the comment, Randy Godwin. I don't think the strike of an asteroid caused megafauna to go extinct 10,000 years ago, but it's a very interesting theory nonetheless. Later!
CWanamaker Level 5 Commenter 10 months ago
Its not a question of If, but When. As you've shown here, its happen many times before. I guarantee it will happen again. What are we going to to do about it? Not sure. Great Hub that got me thinking...