What Happens If A Huge Meteor Hits Earth?

About NASA DART on which he has been working for 5 years project successfully completed its first test yesterday. However, there is one point; The asteroid Dimorphos targeted by DART, 160 meters he had an anchor. So when we consider the thousands of gigantic meteors circling the sky, Dimorphos is a small task.

Although it seems impossible for us to hit our planet with a meteor as big as we mentioned, there are countless studies on this. It is known that thousands of meteorites fall on the Earth’s surface every year. For this reason, having a defense mechanism means that an approaching meteorite to change its trajectory quite important.

There are several meteorites that are likely to hit the Earth.

Among them, one of the largest known asteroids: Bennu. Approximately An anchor of 525 meters Bennu is expected to be closest to Earth towards the end of the 2100s. If our planet’s gravity affects the asteroid’s orbit, Bennu could crash into the Earth.

According to the latest studies, the probability of the realization of what we describe is between 2100 and 2200 years. 1 in 2700the probability of it happening in the 2300s 1 in 1750 seen as. Although it seems like a small possibility to us, the scientific world takes this issue very seriously.

If Bennu crashes into Earth…

In such a case, we would not see an effect like a meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs. The main reason for this is; Bennu is not as big as the famous Chicxulub meteorite. But of course will have no effect doesn’t mean.

In the event of a possible collision More than 1.1 billion tons of TNT an explosion-like effect can be seen. This can cause a great destruction locally. So too many buildings can be destroyed, animals and people can be harmed. Many may even die.

What had Chicxulub, known as the ‘meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs’, done to Earth?

What killed the dinosaurs was not being crushed by the huge meteorite that fell on their heads. Many may have died that way as well, but the meteor created bigger problems. For example; the sea suddenly receded come back with massive tsunamis as. But that wasn’t the biggest problem either.

According to research, the biggest thing that caused the death of dinosaurs Most of the meteorite was made up of sulfur. Indeed, after Chicxulub crashed into Earth, it created a massive explosion of sulfur gas. As a result of the gas mixing into the air, it is estimated that the air temperature drops to the freezing level. At the same time, it is thought that acid rains are seen after the gases released by the meteor. This is how dinosaurs went extinct, according to scientists.

What would happen if a similar meteor hit Earth today?

About the meteorite Chicxulub 10-15 km in diameter is presumed to be. In other words, it had a size close to Mount Everest, which is approximately 9 km high. When a similar meteor first hits the Earth, most of it will shatter, causing a huge crater to form. However, there are a few important points here. Like what substance the meteorite is made of. Because as soon as it hits the Earth and breaks down, all the minerals in it will come out and it will be inevitable to mix into the air. Of course, this may be a little dimmer besides its other effects.

Even if it does not contain any harmful minerals, a cloud of dust will fall on an area of ​​kilometers in size both with the impact of the impact and with the disintegration of the meteorite. However, the meteor starts to burn and disintegrate as it enters the atmosphere before it falls to the earth. So all these disaster scenarios will start before the meteor falls to Earth. Burning particles blown around, large fires that are difficult to prevent while causing The impact of the impact is also very likely to experience large tsunamis, acid rains and sudden temperature changes. Although the location of the meteorite is extremely important, even with today’s technology, after such an explosion It is very difficult for us to survive.

A 500 km diameter meteorite could change things even more.

According to a video shared by Discovery Channel in 2008, 500 km diameter meteorite It can cause fires that can destroy the entire planet. As a matter of fact, when the meteorite enters the atmosphere, it will also burn into small pieces.

These small pieces of meteorite, which can be considered as small, rained down on the Earth. sets our planet in flames. Even if we escape from the fire, it will be almost impossible for us to survive for long after this time.

So, can we change the trajectory of a huge meteorite, as in NASA’s DART project?

The asteroid Dimorphos targeted in the DART project was a fairly small mission. In the statements made on the subject, NASA announced that they do not have enough technology to change the orbit of a larger asteroid for now. However DART’s success for the development of this technology and to stop asteroids that can cause great damage to the Earth. first step seen as.

When NASA’s DART spacecraft, almost the size of a refrigerator, targets such an asteroid, it will create a fly-like effect on our bodies. To stop a meteor like Chicxulub that wiped out the dinosaurs to at least 56 DARTs we need. However, even if this is done, the huge asteroid may not come out of orbit. The electricity and power resources required for more effective results and to destroy larger meteorites are also quite high. For now, no scientist can fully predict whether even larger and more DARTs will be able to block such an asteroid.

While the studies and researches on the subject were continuing, the success of NASA’s mission was a hope that many of us would not see the scenarios we are accustomed to from science fiction movies. What would you do if there was a huge meteor approaching our planet and there was one last thing you could do?

Sources: National Geographic, Science Focus, NASA, Mint, How Stuff Works

Image sources: WallHere

Details on NASA’s DART mission can be found here:

You can see what the meteorite is here: