Econintersect: If the earth were to collide with an asteroid the impact could severely disrupt life on the planet, if not destroy most life forms completely. An asteroid impact would be an epic Armageddon. The possible exposure of the planet to more than 1,400 asteroids at some point in the future is illustrated by a map of the orbits of these known bodies by NASA.
Full map after the Read more >> jump.
Click on picture for larger image.
More than 99% of the asteroid orbits do not extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter. These are truly objects of our inner solar system. It is almost as if Steven King wrote the script for these bodies in space and placed them under “The Dome” defined by Jupiter’s orbit. By Econintersect count there are 11 asteroids that have overcome the dome’s force so that a section of their orbits is outside the dome. But 9 of those 11 have only just barely ventured outside.
The asteroids in the NASA map are large. The sizes are 467 feet across and larger. However, there are countless more smaller asteroids. One of them, with a diameter about 30 feet, had a close encounter (65,000 miles) with earth on 08 June 2013. The extent of exposure to these smaller asteroids is inestimable because there is little known about them. The June 8 asteroid was not discovered until June 6. With such short notice there would be little preparation possible on earth before impact should the path had been slightly different.
On 18 June 2013 the 10,000th near earth object was identified by the NASA funded Pan-Starrs-1 telescope on the summit of Haleakala crater on Maui, Hawaii. The asteroid is identified in the following image captured by the observatory.
Click on picture for larger animated image at JPL/NASA.
Earlier in 2013 two larger asteroids (one very much larger) were tracked as they came close to earth. From GEI News:
On February 15 an asteroid about 50 yards wide passed within 17,100 miles of earth. At the end of May a much larger asteroid (1.6 miles wide) passed within 3.4 million miles. If the February asteroid had impacted earth the force would have been sufficient to level a major city. The one that went by May 31 would have created a major disruption of the planet and have created an extinction event such as the one that created the end of the age of the dinosaurs.
There have been a number of very large asteroid impacts over the lifetime of the earth. Some of these have left craters as wide as 100 to 400 miles in diameter. See The History of 35,000 Meterorites.
As dangerous as asteroids could be to life on earth, they also present a potential economic benefit. A company, Planetary Resources, has been formed to mine asteroids which are composed of high concentrations of rare and valuable metals and minerals. See GEI News articles below.
Of course, if the technology is developed to mine asteroids it could also double as a means of deflecting space objects when a collision with earth is threatened.
Sources:
- All Of The Asteroids That Could Potentially End The World (Dan Nosowitz, Popular Science, 05 August 2013)
- NASA maps Earth-killer asteroids in one image (David Szondy, gizmag, 10 August 2013)
- Small Asteroid Between Earth and Moon (Asteroid Watch, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 07 June 2013)
- The History of 35,000 Meteorites (GEI News, 16 July 2013)
- New Venture: Mining Asteroids (GEI News, 22 April 2013)
- Infographic of the Day: Mining Asteroids (GEI News, 12 February 2013)
