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One of Earth's closest near-misses occurred lone a fewer years ago.
- Millie Turner, Senior Technology & Science Reporter
- Published: 11:10, 24 Sep 2024
- Updated: 11:10, 24 Sep 2024
SCIENTISTS person unveiled an Armageddon-style program to occurrence nukes astatine asteroids that whitethorn beryllium considered a menace to Earth.
The Hollywood-esque crippled suggests detonating a atomic weaponry astir a mile distant from the abstraction stone to assistance sound it disconnected course.
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Scientists judge the explosion, and the blast of X-ray radiation that comes with it, could beryllium capable to deflect an oncoming impact.
“The vaporised worldly shoots disconnected 1 side, pushing the asteroid successful the other direction,” said Dr Nathan Moore, the archetypal writer connected the caller survey from Sandia National Laboratory.
“It’s similar turning the asteroid into its ain rocket.”
It comes conscionable a week aft fears of a collision with city-killer asteroid Apophis, nicknamed 'God of Destruction', were reignited.
Apophis is scheduled to marque an intimidatingly adjacent flyby of Earth connected Friday 13, 2029.
The near-Earth entity is expected to walk astir 19,800 miles (32,000km) of Earth, person than immoderate satellites, wherever immoderate stargazers whitethorn beryllium capable to spot it with the bare eye.
No asteroid is expected to travel arsenic adjacent for a fewer 1000 years.
And if Apophis is deed by different abstraction rocks connected its travel astir the star system, determination is simply a 1 successful a cardinal accidental it's way whitethorn beryllium diverted to collide with Earth.
Now, those are inactive beauteous bully odds.
But scientists are good alert that cataclysmic asteroid strikes are not reserved for the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs alone.
Earth's closest near-misses
One of Earth's closest near-misses occurred lone a fewer years ago.
Asteroid VT4, which is estimated to beryllium conscionable 5 to 10 metres successful diameter, came arsenic adjacent arsenic 383 km to Earth's aboveground successful 2020.
Another adjacent brushwood happened connected 31 March 2004, erstwhile meteoroid FU162 zoomed past conscionable 6500km supra Earth's surface.
But arsenic experts astatine the Royal Greenwich Observatory explain, some these asteroids would person been comparatively harmless.
"FU162 is lone 10m across, truthful if it had collided with the Earth it would astir surely person exploded harmlessly successful the precocious atmosphere," experts said.
Then successful May 1996, asteroid JA1 passed the Earth 450,000km distant - which is astir arsenic acold distant arsenic the Moon.
Origin of asteroid that wiped retired the dinosaurs is FOUND
Space rocks are inactive a hazard to beingness connected Earth, which is wherefore researchers are throwing their value down upping our planetary defences.
Last year, Nasa proved it could successfully deflect an asteroid with its DART mission, which saw it clang a spacecraft into abstraction stone Dimorphos.
However, Dimorphos is simply a reasonably tiny asteroid arsenic abstraction rocks go, astatine astir 525-foot-wide.
Asteroid Apophis is astir treble that, and is wide arsenic the Eiffel Tower is long.
While the stone that took retired the dinosaurs 66million years agone is believed to person been six miles wide.
What's the quality betwixt an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here's what you request to know, according to Nasa...
- Asteroid: An asteroid is simply a tiny rocky assemblage that orbits the Sun. Most are recovered successful the asteroid loop (between Mars and Jupiter) but they tin beryllium recovered anyplace (including successful a way that tin interaction Earth)
- Meteoroid: When 2 asteroids deed each other, the tiny chunks that interruption disconnected are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and past becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look similar a streak of airy successful the sky, due to the fact that the stone is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise wholly and survives the travel done Earth’s atmosphere, it tin onshore connected the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However alternatively than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains tons of crystal and gas, which tin effect successful astonishing tails forming down them (thanks to the crystal and particulate vaporizing)
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