Asteroids hit Earth: Don't be too afraid ...

Meteorites, Asteroids Are there differences? As predicted, in 2036, Apophis asteroids hit the Earth . Do not panic - astronomers recommend and answer the most frequently asked questions about this.

- Is the risk of meteorite hitting the Earth exaggerated?

- Is not. There is no exaggeration. Just like with the other natural disasters that humans are facing, the meteorite hitting the Earth has become a real risk. Based on recent evidence, scientists estimate that the probability of an asteroid causing human disasters in the 21st century is 1 / 5,000.

- Should we be too anxious to panic?

- Should not. This is a danger that we can cope with and have a responsibility to overcome. Moreover, you need to remember that the probability of you dying in a clash between Earth and the cosmic object is much lower than the probability that you will die from a car accident.

- How to calculate the future flight of an asteroid?

- It can be said immediately that some asteroid can still pass through the Earth for years to come, even after we discovered it.

Asteroids still retain its orbit around the Sun unless an incident occurs that deflects its course, such as when it comes too close to one of the planets. The computer programs of experts are watching all the fluctuations of asteroids.

Apophis asteroid is predicted by scientists to hit Earth on April 13, 2036 (Photo: Webalice.it)

One real difficulty is when we discover an asteroid that is moving too close to Earth but we don't have enough data to know for sure that it will " spare " our planet. That is what leads to worries being expressed in the media.

As a practice, after a few weeks of observation - sometimes several months, experts will gather accurate measurements of asteroids' orbits so that they can make predictions in the direction move them.

- If an asteroid threatens the Earth, can we make it explode?

- If we find an asteroid capable of hitting the Earth, we can find a way to make it deflect away so that it does not hit the Earth. If you use nuclear weapons to destroy an asteroid, things won't be as simple as we usually see in movies. It is best to keep the asteroid intact, because if it explodes, its fragments are still a threat to the Earth. However, we can still push the asteroid out of its orbit by performing a moderate explosion on the asteroid.

The problem is very important that we must predict the risk early, ie years before that risk can occur. That is why it is necessary to quickly develop programs to detect dangerous objects for Earth. And that is a global mission.

- What is the best place in the universe to observe asteroids?

- Current search programs are focusing on a part of the sky called ' rivals '. It is the sky area right on top of our heads at 12pm. Perhaps it is the easiest way to observe an asteroid, because that is when they are most visible in a telescope through the reflection of sunlight.

Of course, it is necessary to observe the whole night sky every night, so as not to miss any asteroids. But current detection programs cannot do that yet.

There is much work to do in this area. Much larger telescopes are needed, because only large asteroids can be detected now. To see smaller objects, telescopes with a larger area in the sky are needed.

- How is an asteroid and a comet different?

- The difference between an asteroid and a comet is determined by its composition. Asteroids are primarily composed of stones and metals; comets are mainly ice blocks, and when comets move near the Sun, a part of that ice mass evaporates to make it glow by reflecting sunlight, so it is easy to get out. Meanwhile, asteroids are both small and dark, so it is difficult to detect them.

Comet (Photo: Skyshooter.net)

According to the BBC

About Apophis

APOPHIS (99942)

(99942 is the sequence number in the asteroid list discovered so far)

Discover

Discovered by:Astronomers Roy A. Tucker (USA),
David J. Tholen (USA), and Fabrizio Bernardi (Italy)Exploration DayJune 19,2004Alternate name2004 MN4Type ofAten asteroids

Trajectory characteristics

The farthest distance from the sun:164,351 Gm (1,099 astronomical units)The closest sun distance:111,633 Gm (0.746 astronomical units)Orbital cycle:323,587 d (0,89 a)Above average speed orbit:30.73 km / sTilt:3,331 °Eccentricity0.191

Physical characteristics

Size~ 250 m (estimated)Volume2 × 10 ¹⁰ kg (estimated)Temperature~ 290 KEnergy4.0e-02 MTAbsolute apparent brightness19.2

Up to this point, according to the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), 99942 Apophis is an asteroid capable of threatening the most humans.

A hit of 99942 Apophis into urban areas can bring about the same damage as the destruction that Hurricane Katrina (in the US in 2005), the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco total.

Some terms:

Meteorites (meteoroid) : are relatively small fragments in the Solar System. When entering the atmosphere of a planet, meteorites are heated by the pressure of the planet's atmosphere and partially or completely destroyed. The pieces that exist can fall to that planet.

According to the International Astronomical Society (IAU), meteorites are defined as follows: "A solid object moves in the interplanetary space, much smaller than an asteroid but much larger than a atom or molecule '.

IAU also defines the size of meteorite size from 100 µm to 10 m in length. Greater than 10 m, the object will be called an asteroid; less than 100 µm is called interplanetary dust.

Asteroid (Asteroid) : or small planet, is a term for a small group of celestial bodies floating in the solar system in orbit around the Sun. Asteroid (the Greek word meaning " star-like ") is the most used word in English to refer to asteroids, and has become the preferred term for the International Astronomical Federation.

In the Solar System, the first and largest asteroid discovered is Ceres, currently classified as a dwarf planet, while the rest are now classified as small Solar System objects.

So far, hundreds of thousands of asteroids have been discovered inside the solar system and the current discovery rate is about 5.00 asteroids per month. By September 17, 2006, of a total of 342,358 known asteroids, 136,563 had sufficient orbits to be marked with official symbols. Among them, 13,422 has an official name.

Comet : Comet is a celestial body that resembles an asteroid but is not much made of rock, but mostly ice. It is described by some experts as the phrase " dirty snowball " because it contains Carbonic, methane and frozen water mixed with dust and minerals. Most comets have very flat elliptical orbits, some with far more orbital views than Pluto.

Comet trajectories are different from other solar system objects in that they are not located near the zodiacal plane but randomly distributed throughout space. As it approaches the Sun, the rising temperature causes the matter of the comet to evaporate and, under the pressure of the solar wind, create dust tails and gas tail, which look like their name, which means a broom shape.

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Minh Quang