“Asteroid hazard: myth or reality? How dangerous is the threat from space, what to do with the found meteorite

12.10.2019

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The problem of asteroid danger- this is an aspect of a global nature associated with the threat of a collision with the Earth of one or more asteroids, which under the current conditions would become inevitable, and in its consequences would be comparable to a limited thermonuclear war. About ten thousand asteroids regularly approach our planet - the only question of time is when and in what place the impact will occur. Despite the severity of the threat and catastrophic possible consequences, Earth is ill-prepared for a potential collision. Even experts only with great difficulty manage to calculate the trajectories of space debris.

In March 2014, a group of scientists led by Alan Harris ( Alan Harris ) began experiments to simulate the end of the world. This researcher leads international project protection from asteroids called " NeoShield ” (“New Shield”), carried out at the German Center for Aviation and Cosmonautics ( DLR ). By the way, the essence of the experiments is not as terrible as one might imagine, judging by their direction: the researchers in the laboratory simply shoot from gas guns on artificial mini-asteroids. After the shelling, they control the damage caused. Maybe one day these experiments will help save the world from a collision with some alien from the Universe: in any case, Harris says that we must study the composition of asteroids in more detail in order to be able to deflect them from their orbits.

Over 600,000 asteroids have already been discovered in the solar system. At least ten thousand of them approach the Earth with a certain periodicity. These so-called "near-Earth objects" (NEOs) are of great concern to experts. Their collision with our planet would lead to catastrophic consequences, but we are still almost unprepared for this.

The reality of the asteroid danger is evidenced, among other things, by the huge craters on the Moon, which can be observed every night on its surface with the naked eye. Most recently, on September 11, 2013, another asteroid weighing 400 kg and the size of a household refrigerator crashed into a natural satellite of the Earth, flying at a speed of 61,000 km / h. After himself, he left a crater with a diameter of about 40 meters.

However, experts did not expect this collision. According to Jose Madiedo ( Jos e Madiedo ) from the Andalusian University of Huelva, Spain, "observing asteroids is difficult." This astronomer personally witnessed the collision of a space debris with the Moon. “Most of them have a very dark surface. Therefore, you can see them only if they are large enough and are relatively close.

Recently, a 270-meter asteroid flew near the Earth (2000 EM 26) titled "Moby Dick" ( Moby Dick ) - in any case, there is such an assumption. It opened in 2000 and was expected to return in February 2014. However, when astronomers aimed their telescopes at the supposed area of its passage, they saw nothing. Moby Dick is gone. According to Alan Harris, this happens. “Let's say some observatory detects an asteroid. After that, several hours of observation are required in order to calculate the trajectory of its flight. And only then can we roughly predict where he will be in the coming night.

Starting from the second night, scientists can calculate its location until next week, then several months ahead. If during this period bad weather, then everything will go down the drain. Then not a single telescope in the world will have a single chance to see the discovered asteroid again.” Flying observatories are also able to track only a small part of space debris.

For those who are afraid of the threat, Harris reassures with mathematical layouts: "If we detect an asteroid only a year before it approaches the Earth, then this means that it must be quite small." According to the scientist's forecasts, "we would have seen an asteroid large enough to harm our planet 10-20 years before its approach."

According to astrophysicist Mario Triloff ( Mario Trieloff ) from the University of Heidelberg, really large debris is actually quite rare: "asteroids twice as large are 10 times as rare." There are about a thousand asteroids that are larger than 1 kilometer and at the same time cross the Earth's orbit.

They are large enough to be potentially dangerous to us - larger ones can cause nuclear winter. Triloff states that "90 percent of them are known to scientists." None of these large space bodies in the next 100 years, most likely, will not collide with the Earth, even if it flies, perhaps quite close to it.

But what if some larger fragment really threatens to collide with our planet? After all, there is still no space mission within the framework of which a real test of anti-asteroid defense technology would be carried out. International coordination of efforts aimed at such protection is too slow, and the "saviors of the world" risk plunging into the jungle of abbreviations: SMPAG (Space Mission Planning and Advisory Group), IAWN (International Asteroid Alert Network), UNCOPUOS (UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) are just a few of the organizations that bring together asteroid experts.

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The Chelyabinsk fireball drew attention to space, from where asteroids and meteors can be expected to fall. Interest in meteorites, their search and sale has increased.

Chelyabinsk meteorite, photo from Polit.ru

Asteroid, meteor and meteorite

flight paths asteroids designed for a century ahead, they are constantly monitored. These cosmic bodies potentially dangerous for the Earth (the size of a kilometer or more) shine with light reflected from the Sun, so they appear dark from the Earth part of the time. Amateur astronomers are not always able to see them, as city lighting, haze, etc. interfere. Interestingly, most of the asteroids are discovered not by professional astronomers, but by amateurs. Some are even awarded international prizes for this. There are such lovers of astronomy in Russia and other countries. Russia, unfortunately, is losing because of the lack of telescopes. Now that the decision to fund the work to protect the Earth from a space threat has been made public, scientists have hope to acquire telescopes that can scan the sky at night and warn of imminent danger. Astronomers also hope to receive modern wide-angle telescopes (at least two meters in diameter) with digital cameras.

smaller asteroids, meteoroids, flying in near-Earth space outside the atmosphere, can be seen more often when they fly close to the Earth. And the speed of these celestial bodies is about - 30 - 40 km per second! The flight of such a "pebble" to the Earth can be predicted (at best) only one or two days in advance. In order to understand how small this is, the following fact is indicative: the distance from the Moon to the Earth is overcome in just a few hours.

Meteor looks like a shooting star. It flies in the Earth's atmosphere, often adorned with a burning tail. Real things happen in heaven meteor showers. They are more properly called meteor showers. Many are already known. However, some happen unexpectedly when the Earth encounters rocks or pieces of metal roaming the solar system.

fireball, a very large meteor, appears to be a fireball with sparks flying in all directions and a bright tail. The fireball is visible even against the background of the daytime sky. At night, it can illuminate vast areas. The path of the fireball is marked with a smoky stripe. It has a zigzag shape due to air currents.

When a body passes through the atmosphere, a shock wave is generated. A strong shock wave is capable of shaking buildings and the ground. It generates blows similar to explosions and roar.

A space body that has fallen to Earth is called meteorite. This is the rock-hard remnant of those meteoroids lying on the ground that were not completely destroyed during their movement in the atmosphere. In flight, air resistance starts braking, and kinetic energy turns into heat and light. Surface layer temperature and air shell while reaching several thousand degrees. The meteor body partially evaporates and throws out fiery drops. The fragments of the meteor during the landing quickly cool down and fall to the ground warm. From above they are covered with a bark of melting. The place of fall often takes the form of a depression. L. Rykhlova, head of the department of space astrometry at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reported that “about 100 thousand tons of meteoroid matter falls on the Earth every year” (“Echo of Moscow”, 17.02.2013). There are very small and fairly large meteorites. So, the Goba meteorite (1920, South West Africa, iron) had a mass of about 60 tons, and the Sikhote-Alinsky (1947, the USSR, which fell with iron rain) - an estimated mass of about 70 tons, collected 23 tons.

Meteorites are made up of eight basic elements: iron, nickel, magnesium, silicon, sulfur, aluminum, calcium, and oxygen. There are other elements, but in small quantities. Meteorites vary in composition. The main ones are: iron (iron in combination with nickel and a small amount of cobalt), stony (combination of silicon with oxygen, metal inclusions are possible; small rounded particles are visible at the break), iron-stone (an equal amount of stony and iron with nickel). Some meteorites are of Martian or lunar origin: when large asteroids fall on the surface of these planets, an explosion occurs, and parts of the surface of the planets are ejected into space.

Sometimes meteorites are confused with tektites. These are small black or greenish-yellow molten pieces of silicate glass. They are formed at the moment of the impact of large meteorites on the Earth. There is an assumption about the extraterrestrial origin of tektites. Outwardly, tektites resemble obsidian. They are collected, and jewelers process and use these " gems» to decorate their products.

Are meteorites dangerous to humans?

Only a few cases have been recorded direct hit meteorites in houses, cars or in people. Most of meteorites ends up in the ocean (this is almost three-quarters earth's surface). Densely populated and industrial areas occupy a smaller area. The chance of hitting them is much less. Although sometimes, as we see, this happens and leads to great destruction.

Can you touch meteorites with your hands? They are not considered to pose any danger. But take meteorites dirty hands not worth it. They are advised to immediately put in a clean plastic bag.

How much does a meteorite cost?

Meteorites can be distinguished by a number of features. First of all, they are very heavy. On the surface of the “stone”, smoothed dents and depressions (“fingerprints on clay”) are clearly visible, there is no layering. Fresh meteorites are usually dark, as they melt as they fly through the atmosphere. This characteristic dark melting crust is about 1 mm thick (more common). A meteorite is often recognized by its blunt head. Fracture is often gray color, with small balls (chondrules) that differ from the crystal structure of granite. Iron inclusions are clearly visible. From oxidation in air, the color of meteorites that have lain on the ground for a long time becomes brown or rusty. Meteorites are highly magnetized, causing the compass needle to deviate.

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, approximately 4,000 huge rocks move around the Sun. Scientists call them asteroids, or minor planets. asteroids markedly different from each other in size. Some have a diameter of only a few meters, others have much more impressive dimensions. The largest asteroid- Ceres - to call the "stone" does not turn the language. Because its diameter is 1000 kilometers, which is approximately equal to the distance from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don. However, "Ceres" is officially considered a dwarf planet according to the new classification (from 08/24/06). Where did this swarm of heavenly wanderers come from?

Ceres - asteroid or dwarf planet?

Scientists believe that asteroids appeared from the same material from which planets such as Earth or Mars arose. However, the giant Jupiter flying in a neighboring orbit did not allow this cosmic trifle to merge into big planet- its gravitational force is too great.

Not all asteroids "live" inside the belt. Some of them move around the Sun in elliptical, that is, highly elongated orbits and sometimes fly dangerously close to the Earth. Huge craters that can be seen on the Moon even with small binoculars are traces of a collision with large space rocks.

On the planet closest to the Sun, Mercury, there is a so-called Caloris Basin. This is a trace from the impact of a 100-kilometer asteroid. The shock wave ran over the entire surface of the planet, after which Mercury was covered with mountain rings.

Traces space disasters preserved on earth. Geologists have discovered traces of the impact of a huge asteroid at the bottom Gulf of Mexico. 65 million years ago a hulk with a diameter of 30 kilometers crashed into the Earth. A giant flash flashed over the planet. Thousands of tons of water and soil rose into the air. Due to dust clouds in the atmosphere, sunlight almost stopped coming to Earth, and the climate changed dramatically. It was then, according to scientists, all dinosaurs died and many other animals and plants, which until then felt at ease on Earth.

From time to time, asteroids collide with the Earth. The smallest of them can fall to the surface of our planet about once every 100 years, and their blows are most often taken by the ocean floor or sparsely populated parts of the land. However, a meeting with an asteroid having a diameter of even 2 kilometers can bring very serious trouble to the Earth and people. Even if he doesn't fall on some Big city (as usually shown in fantasy films on this topic), the Earth's climate is likely to change dramatically, and this could cause the death of millions of people.

Today for everyone "suspicious" asteroids that orbit near our planet are closely watched by telescopes. So far, we have not been able to find anything seriously threatening. But if it turns out that a collision with a giant stone is imminent, it may be necessary to urgently look for a means to repel "attack". Perhaps such a means will be nuclear missile weapons, or super-high-power laser guns, which, however, have yet to be created.

Wolf Creek Crater in Australia.

Appeared in Australia 10,000 years ago. He still looks "like New". And here is Deep Bay of Deer Lake in Canada- this is a trace of an asteroid collision that occurred 150 million years ago. During this time, the crater was strongly destroyed and its true origin learned only in 1957.

Most asteroids, like the Earth's crust, are made of iron. There are also more valuable metals in small planets - copper, cobalt and nickel. Maybe in the future people will learn "tow" asteroids into Earth orbit and extract minerals from them.

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Scientists (and not only them) every year promise us another end Sveta. And one of the reasons for a possible apocalypse is called a collision with the Earth of a huge asteroid. They are found with commendable regularity and immediately begin to calculate how close this or that space monster will fly from our planet.

The media are diligently whipping up panic, the townsfolk are waiting with interest to see what will happen next. And this applies not only to asteroids, but to any events that portend a major mess. The same one caused a good response because of the prophecy about the end of the world (it was supposed to start almost immediately, but something went wrong).

But back to asteroids. The chances of one of them hitting the Earth is negligible. And there is almost no chance that this will happen in 2016 or 2017. Here are those that will approach us at a minimum distance in the next hundred years:

Of course, some objects are missing from the diagram. Finding a small asteroid is not so easy, calculating its orbit is even more difficult, so the list is constantly updated. I will not list them all, I will only talk about the most dangerous or unusual:

"Asteroid of death" 2004 MN4 or Apophis

When Apophis approaches us, astronomers sound the alarm. The fact is that with each new revolution, its orbit shifts towards the Earth. Sooner or later this thing will collide with our planet. An explosion with a capacity of 1.7 thousand Mt (about 100 thousand Hiroshima) will devastate vast territories. A crater with a diameter of almost 6 km is formed. Winds up to 792 m/s and earthquakes up to 6.5 points will complete the destruction. Initially, scientists believed that the risk was quite large. But according to updated data, this is unlikely to happen in 2029 or 2036.

Object 2012 DA14 or Duende

This rock can long time fly near the earth. However, its further behavior is unpredictable. Scientists do not know exactly when it will next approach us, and how dangerous it is. So, nothing bad will happen in 2020. But sooner or later, Duende can fly 4.5 thousand km from the Earth. True, there will be no global catastrophe. But there is an opinion that the fall of 2012 DA14 into the ocean will destroy our ozone layer. And if he flops into a mega-volcano, it is almost guaranteed.

"Crimean asteroid" 2013 TV135

For a long time, 2013 TV135 was considered the most dangerous asteroid. The problem is that no one can really calculate its orbit. It is not clear, for example, at what distance from the Earth it will pass next time. It may be only 4 thousand km (according to some scientists) or 56 million km (according to the official version). If the asteroid hits, the explosion power will be 2.5 thousand Mt. At first, astronomers did not rule out such an option, but now they estimate the risks at 0.01%. That is, "the object does not pose a danger" either in 2032 or in 2047.

Should we expect a large asteroid in 2016 or 2017?

But we, of course, are worried about what will happen in our lifetime. Therefore, it is important to understand whether it is worth waiting for the approach of a large asteroid in 2016 or 2017. Scientists do not predict anything of the kind, but rumors still creep around the Internet. Let's find out what's true in them.

Many sites are talking about the 2012 YQ1. Allegedly, this 200-meter asteroid will approach the Earth in January 2016 or 2019. In fact, we are talking about the approach of 2106 or 2109. Guess it's a small typo! Rearranged two numbers, and the sensation is ready, you can throw tantrums and wait for the end of the world.

Others are haunted by the 510-meter asteroid Bennu or 1999 RQ36. He has long been the object of all sorts of gossip and fakes. Either they will find a black pyramid on it, or they will settle aliens. Now they write that in 2016 he will destroy the Earth. It does not matter that the next time Bennu will approach us is only in 2169.

Finally, in the absence of proper information, many accuse NACA of hushing up the facts. And some even quote the words of some prophets (Protestant priest Efrain Rodriguez, Japanese pastor Ricardo Salazar, etc.) who promise such a catastrophe in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation reports that in 2016 not a single asteroid will approach the Earth at a more or less dangerous distance. The next approach will take place only on October 20, 2017, when a small 17-meter asteroid 2012TC4 will fly by about 192 thousand km from our planet.

Well, that's enough. There are other asteroids that are considered potentially dangerous. But, as you can see, the probability of their collision with the Earth is negligible. And, even if it happens, the cataclysm will not destroy the entire planet. So the apocalypse is cancelled!

True, the asteroid does not have to fall, it is enough just to get too close to us. It is possible that it was precisely because of this that the intensification (the strongest in the last 20 years) began when on October 31 the asteroid 2015 TV145 with a diameter of 600 m approached the Earth by 480 thousand km.

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asteroid hazard

Asteroid is a relatively small celestial body solar system moving in orbit around the sun. Asteroids are significantly inferior in mass and size to the planets, have an irregular shape and do not have an atmosphere.

AT this moment hundreds of thousands of asteroids have been discovered in the solar system. As of 2015, there were 670,474 objects in the database, of which 422,636 had precise orbits and an official number, more than 19,000 of which had officially approved names. It is assumed that in the solar system there may be from 1.1 to 1.9 million objects larger than 1 km. Most of the famous this moment asteroids is concentrated within the asteroid belt, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres was considered the largest asteroid in the solar system, measuring approximately 975x909 km, but since August 24, 2006, it has received the status of a dwarf planet. The other two largest asteroids, Pallas and Vesta, have a diameter of ~500 km. Vesta is the only object in the asteroid belt that can be seen with the naked eye. Asteroids moving in other orbits can also be observed during the period of passage near the Earth.

The total mass of all asteroids in the main belt is estimated at 3.0-3.6 1021 kg, which is only about 4% of the mass of the Moon. The mass of Ceres is 9.5 1020 kg, that is, about 32% of the total, and together with the three largest asteroids Vesta (9%), Pallas (7%), Hygiea (3%) - 51%, that is, the vast majority of asteroids have negligible by astronomical standards.

However, asteroids are dangerous for the planet Earth, since a collision with a body larger than 3 km can lead to the destruction of civilization, despite the fact that the Earth is much larger than all known asteroids.

Almost 20 years ago, in July 1981, NASA (USA) held the first Workshop "Collision of asteroids and comets with the Earth: physical consequences and Humanity", where the problem of the asteroid-comet hazard received "official status". From then to the present, at least 15 international conferences and meetings on this issue. Realizing that the primary task of its solution is the detection and cataloging of asteroids in the vicinity of the earth's orbit, astronomers in the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan began to make vigorous efforts to set up and implement appropriate observational programs.

Along with holding special scientific and technical conferences, these issues were considered by the UN (1995), the House of Lords of Great Britain (2001), the US Congress (2002) and the Organization economic cooperation and Development (2003). As a result, a number of decrees and resolutions on this issue were adopted, the most important of which is Resolution 1080 "On the discovery of asteroids and comets potentially dangerous to mankind", adopted in 1996 Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe.

Obviously, one must be prepared in advance for a situation where it will be necessary to make quick and accurate decisions about saving millions and even billions of people. Otherwise, under conditions of lack of time, state disunity and other factors, we will not be able to take adequate and effective measures of protection and salvation. In this regard, it would be unforgivable carelessness not to take effective measures to prevent such events. Moreover, Russia and other technologically advanced countries of the world have all the basic technologies for creating a Planetary Defense System (SPS) from asteroids and comets.

However, the global and complex nature of the problem makes it impossible for a single country to create and maintain constant readiness such a protection system. Obviously, since this problem is universal, then it should be solved by the combined efforts and means of the entire world community.

It should be noted that certain funds have already been allocated in a number of countries and work has begun in this direction. At the University of Arizona (USA), under the leadership of T. Gerels, a method for monitoring NEAs has been developed, and since the late 80s, observations have been carried out with a 0.9-m telescope with a CCD array (2048x2048) of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The system has proven its effectiveness in practice - about one and a half hundred new NEAs have already been discovered, with sizes up to several meters. To date, work has been completed on transferring the equipment to the 1.8-m telescope of the same observatory, which will significantly increase the rate of detection of new NEAs. NEA monitoring has begun under two more programs in the United States: at the Lovell Observatory (Flagstaff, Arizona) and in the Hawaiian Islands (a joint program of NASA - Air Force United States using the Air Force's 1-m telescope ground-based). In the south of France at the observatory Cote d'Azur(Nice) launched the European NEA monitoring program involving France, Germany and Sweden. Similar programs are being set up in Japan as well.

When a large celestial body falls to the Earth's surface, craters are formed. Such events are called astroproblems, "stellar wounds". On Earth, they are not very numerous (compared to the Moon) and are quickly smoothed out by erosion and other processes. A total of 120 craters have been found on the surface of the planet. 33 craters have a diameter greater than 5 km and are about 150 million years old.

The first crater was discovered in the 1920s in Devil's Canyon, in the North American state of Arizona. Figure 15 The diameter of the crater is 1.2 km, the depth is 175 m, the approximate age is 49 thousand years. According to the calculations of scientists, such a crater could be formed when the Earth collided with a body of forty meters in diameter.

Geochemical and paleontological data indicate that about 65 million years ago, at the turn of the Mesazoic period Cretaceous era and Tertiary period Cenozoic era a celestial body about 170-300 km in size collided with the Earth in the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula (the coast of Mexico). The trace of this collision is a crater called Chicxulub. The power of the explosion is estimated at 100 million megatons! At the same time, a crater with a diameter of 180 km was formed. The crater was formed by the fall of a body with a diameter of 10-15 km. At the same time, a giant cloud of dust with a total weight of a million tons was thrown into the atmosphere. Half-year night has come on the Earth. More than half of the existing plant and animal species perished. Perhaps then, as a result of global cooling, the dinosaurs became extinct.

According to modern science in just the past 250 million years, there have been nine extinctions of living organisms with an average interval of 30 million years. These catastrophes can be associated with the fall of large asteroids or comets to Earth. Note that not only the Earth gets from uninvited guests. spacecraft photographed the surfaces of the Moon, Mars, Mercury. Craters are clearly visible on them, and they are much better preserved due to the peculiarities of the local climate.

On the territory of Russia, several astroproblems stand out: in the north of Siberia - Popigaiskaya - with a crater diameter of 100 km and an age of 36-37 million years, Puchezh-Katunskaya - with a crater of 80 km, whose age is estimated at 180 million years, and Karskaya - with a diameter of 65 km and age - 70 million years. celestial asteroid Tunguska

Tunguska phenomenon

Two large celestial bodies fell on Russian Earth in the 20th century. Firstly, the Tunguska object, which caused an explosion with a capacity of 20 megatons at a height of 5-8 km above the Earth's surface. To determine the power of an explosion, it is equated by the destructive effect on environment explosion hydrogen bomb with a TNT equivalent, in this case 20 megatons of TNT, which exceeds the energy nuclear explosion in Hiroshima 100 times. By modern estimates the mass of this body could reach from 1 to 5 million tons. An unknown body has invaded the limits earth's atmosphere June 30, 1908 in the basin of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia.

Beginning in 1927, eight expeditions of Russian scientists worked successively at the site of the fall of the Tunguska phenomenon. It was determined that within a radius of 30 km from the site of the explosion, all trees were knocked down by the shock wave. Radiation burn caused a huge forest fire. The explosion was accompanied strong sound. On a vast territory, according to the testimony of residents of the surrounding (very rare in the taiga) villages, unusually bright nights were observed. But none of the expeditions found a single piece of the meteorite.

Many are more accustomed to hearing the phrase "Tunguska meteorite", but until the nature of this phenomenon is reliably known, scientists prefer to use the term "Tunguska phenomenon". Opinions about the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon are the most controversial. Some consider it to be a stone asteroid with a diameter of approximately 60-70 meters that collapsed when it fell into pieces of about 10 meters in diameter, which then evaporated in the atmosphere. Others, and most of them, that it is a fragment of Encke's comet. Many associate this meteorite with the Beta Taurid meteor shower, which is also the ancestor of Comet Encke. This can be proved by the fall of two other large meteors on Earth in the same month of the year - June, which were not previously considered on a par with the Tunguska. It's about about the Krasnoturan fireball of 1978 and the Chinese meteorite of 1876.

The real estimate of the energy of the Tunguska phenomenon is approximately equal to 6 megatons. The energy of the Tunguska phenomenon is equivalent to an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 (the energy of the strongest earthquake is 12).

The second large object found on the territory of Russia was the Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite that fell in the Ussuri taiga on February 12, 1947. It was much smaller than its predecessor, and its mass was tens of tons. He also exploded in the air, not reaching the surface of the planet. However, on an area of 2 square kilometers, more than 100 craters with a diameter of slightly more than a meter. The largest crater found was 26.5 meters in diameter and 6 meters deep. Over the past fifty years, more than 300 large fragments have been found. The largest fragment has a weight of 1,745 kg, and total weight collected fragments exceeded 30 tons of meteoric matter. Not all fragments were found. The energy of the Sikhote-Alininsky meteorite is estimated at about 20 kilotons.

Russia was lucky: both meteorites fell in a deserted area. If the Tunguska meteorite fell on a big city, then nothing would be left of the city and its inhabitants.

Of the large meteorites of the 20th century, the Brazilian Tunguska deserves attention. He fell on the morning of September 3, 1930 in a deserted region of the Amazon. The explosion power of the Brazilian meteorite corresponded to one megaton.

All of the above concerns the collisions of the Earth with a specific solid. And what can happen in a collision with a comet of a huge radius stuffed with meteorites? The fate of the planet Jupiter helps answer this question. In July 1996, comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. Two years earlier, during the passage of this comet at a distance of 15 thousand kilometers from Jupiter, its nucleus broke into 17 fragments, approximately 0.5 km in diameter, stretching along the comet's orbit. In 1996, they in turn penetrated into the thickness of the planet. The collision energy of each of the pieces, according to scientists, reached about 100 million megatons. Photographs from the Space Telescope. Hubble (USA) it can be seen that as a result of the catastrophe, giant dark spots formed on the surface of Jupiter - emissions of gas and dust into the atmosphere in places where fragments were fired. The spots corresponded to the size of our Earth!

Of course, comets have also collided with Earth in the distant past. It is the collision with comets, and not with asteroids or meteorites, that is credited with the role of giant catastrophes of the past, with climate change, the extinction of many species of animals and plants, and the death of developed civilizations of earthlings. There is no guarantee that the same changes in nature will not occur after the fall of an asteroid to Earth.

Due to the fact that there is a possibility of asteroids falling to the ground, it is necessary to create a protective installation, which should consist of two automated devices:

Tracking device for asteroids approaching the Earth;

A focal point on earth that will control rockets to break the asteroid into smaller pieces that cannot harm nature, not humanity. The first should be a satellite (ideally several satellites) located in the orbit of our planet and constantly monitoring the passing celestial bodies. When approaching dangerous asteroid, the satellite must transmit a signal to focal point located on earth.

The center will automatically determine the flight path and launch a rocket that will break a large asteroid into smaller ones, thereby preventing a global catastrophe in the event of a collision.

That is, it is necessary for scientists to develop specific automated mechanisms that will control the movement of celestial bodies, and in particular those approaching our planet, and prevent global catastrophes.

The problem of asteroid hazard is international in nature. The most active countries in solving this problem are the USA, Italy and Russia. The positive fact is that cooperation on this issue is being established between nuclear specialists and the US and Russian military. military departments largest countries is really able to unite its efforts to solve this problem of humanity - the asteroid hazard and, as part of the conversion, begin to create a global system for protecting the Earth. This cooperative cooperation would contribute to the growth of confidence and detente in international relations, the development of new technologies, the further technological progress of society.

It is noteworthy that the realization of the reality of the threat of cosmic collisions coincided with the time when the level of development of science and technology already makes it possible to put on the agenda and solve the problem of protecting the Earth from asteroid danger. And this means that there is no hopelessness for the earthly civilization in the face of a threat from space, or, in other words, we have a chance to protect ourselves from a collision with dangerous space objects. The asteroid hazard is one of the most important global problems which will inevitably have to be solved by mankind through the combined efforts of various countries.

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“Asteroid hazard: myth or reality? How dangerous is the threat from space, what to do with the found meteorite

Asteroid, meteor and meteorite

Are meteorites dangerous to humans?

How much does a meteorite cost?

"Asteroid of death" 2004 MN4 or Apophis

Object 2012 DA14 or Duende

"Crimean asteroid" 2013 TV135

Should we expect a large asteroid in 2016 or 2017?

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