06-30-2015, 06:59 AM
One thing about asteroids is there hasn't been a movie yet that depicts them accurately.
That's because it would be a very short movie. According to Bill Bryson in his book A Short History of Nearly Everything, there would be virtually no warning of an asteroid or comet impact:
It wouldn't be visible to the naked eye until it warmed up and that wouldn't happen until it hit the atmosphere, which would be about one second before it hit the Earth.
He continues:
An asteroid or comet traveling at cosmic velocities would enter the earth's atmosphere at such a speed that the air beneath it couldn't get out of the way and would be compressed, as in a bicycle pump. As anyone who has used such a pump knows, compressed air grows swiftly hot, and temperature below it would rise to some 60,000 Kelvins or ten times the surface temperature of the Sun. In this instant of its arrival in our atmosphere , everything in the meteor's path-people, houses, factories, cars-would crinkle and vanish like cellophane in a flame.
One second after entering the atmosphere, the meteorite would slam into the earth's surface, where the people of Manson(an impact site of such a collision millions of years ago) had a moment before been going about their business. The meteorite itself would vaporize instantly, but the blast would blow out a thousand cubic kilometers of rock, earth, and superheated gases. Every living thing within 150 miles that hadn't been killed by the heat of entry would now be killed by the blast. Radiating outward at almost the speed of light would be the initial shock wave, sweeping everything before it.
http://vkg378.blogspot.com/2006/02/armag...ryson.html
Happy 1st Asteroid Day!
That's because it would be a very short movie. According to Bill Bryson in his book A Short History of Nearly Everything, there would be virtually no warning of an asteroid or comet impact:
It wouldn't be visible to the naked eye until it warmed up and that wouldn't happen until it hit the atmosphere, which would be about one second before it hit the Earth.
He continues:
An asteroid or comet traveling at cosmic velocities would enter the earth's atmosphere at such a speed that the air beneath it couldn't get out of the way and would be compressed, as in a bicycle pump. As anyone who has used such a pump knows, compressed air grows swiftly hot, and temperature below it would rise to some 60,000 Kelvins or ten times the surface temperature of the Sun. In this instant of its arrival in our atmosphere , everything in the meteor's path-people, houses, factories, cars-would crinkle and vanish like cellophane in a flame.
One second after entering the atmosphere, the meteorite would slam into the earth's surface, where the people of Manson(an impact site of such a collision millions of years ago) had a moment before been going about their business. The meteorite itself would vaporize instantly, but the blast would blow out a thousand cubic kilometers of rock, earth, and superheated gases. Every living thing within 150 miles that hadn't been killed by the heat of entry would now be killed by the blast. Radiating outward at almost the speed of light would be the initial shock wave, sweeping everything before it.
http://vkg378.blogspot.com/2006/02/armag...ryson.html
Happy 1st Asteroid Day!
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves