"Wouldn't destroy the Earth either. It would change the Earth a lot. The interesting question is: what would replace us Mammals?"
Meteorites would replace us. ;) On 8/27/10, Sterling K. Webb <[email protected]> wrote: > Eric, List, > >> Unless of course one destroys our planet first... > > The largest NEO is 1036 Ganymed. The Largest > Near-Earth Object is 32 km in diameter. The second > largest is 433 Eros (visited by NEAR); it's 33 km by > 13 km. > > Even the 20 mile Ganymed wouldn't destroy the > planet. Just a little dent about twice the size of > Chicxulub... Might be tough on like, you know, > living things, though... > > No, if you want to "destroy" the Earth (whatever > that means to you), you need a bigger hammer. > I suggest 2060 Chiron, whose orbit between > Saturn and Uranus is not long-term stable. How > big is it? > > In 1984, Larry Lebofsky derived a diameter of > 180 km or 112 miles. In 1991, IRAS determined > it had to be less than 372 km. In 1994, Campins > determined 150 km. in 1996, an occultation yielded > a value of 180 km. And In 2007, the Spitzer Space > Telescope said it was 235 km in diameter. > > Personally, I'll go with Larry. If eventually, old > Saturn "persuades" Chiron to fall into the inner > solar system and it should meet up with Earth with > the 40 to 50 km/sec velocity such an elliptical orbit > implies, it would be one helluva whack. > > Wouldn't destroy the Earth either. It would change > the Earth a lot. The interesting question is: what > would replace us Mammals? > > > Sterling K. Webb > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Meteorites USA" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 1:54 PM > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Beautiful time-lapse movie showing the > growth in discovered minor planets since 1980 > > >> Wow! Wow! WOW! It really is a cosmic "soup" out there. It's so fluid, >> and reactive. All I can think is. Look at all the future meteorites! >> ;) >> >> Unless of course one destroys our planet first. The red ones are >> scary... ;) >> >> Eric >> >> >> On 8/27/2010 10:34 AM, Matson, Robert D. wrote: >>> Hi All, >>> >>> Here is a fascinating video graphically showing the exponential >>> growth >>> in >>> discovered minor planets over the last 30 years. At the beginning of >>> 1980, >>> the count stood at 8954. It's now over half a million! >>> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_d-gs0WoUw >>> >>> In this time-lapse video, as new minor planets are discovered, they >>> are >>> highlighted in white. You'll notice that the majority of the >>> discoveries >>> follow the earth around in its orbit (since most discoveries are made >>> at >>> opposition). >>> >>> In the 1990s, the big surveys start to come online, and the discovery >>> rates skyrocket. In 2010, a new pattern of discoveries starts to show >>> up >>> in a line perpendicular to the earth-sun line. This shows the >>> dramatic >>> increase in minor planet discoveries by WISE (the Widefield Infrared >>> Survey Explorer), which only images near 90-degree elongation. >>> >>> The final color-coding of minor planets differentiates the NEOs from >>> the >>> mainbelters. Earth-crossing NEOs are colored red; earth-approaching >>> NEOs >>> (perihelion distance less than 1.3 a.u.) are in yellow; all others >>> are >>> green. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Rob >>> ______________________________________________ >>> Visit the Archives at >>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >>> Meteorite-list mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >>> >>> >> ______________________________________________ >> Visit the Archives at >> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >> Meteorite-list mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites http://www.galactic-stone.com http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone ------------------------------------------------------------ ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
